CONSTIPATION-. 189 



uicommonly in the country it is a lung way oil', quite tit the bottom of the 

 garden, and very likely you have to walk right past tin- dining-room windows to 

 ge< to it. Instead of being :i bright, cheerful little chamber, where you might 

 :i\e or ten minutes with a certain amount of comfort, and moralise on things 

 in general, it is a cold, damp, repulsive room which gives you the shivers even to 

 look at. 



It too frequently happens that the pleasures of a country visit are completely 

 neutralised by the difficulty in attending to the bowels. Jf you ask a friend to come 

 and stay with you, one of the first things you should do should be to explain to him 

 rhe anatomy of the place." In most country houses of any pretensions they put up 

 elaborate notices telling you all about the times the post goes out, and so on, but 

 they never give you any information respecting the situation of the water-closet, a 

 very much more important matter. In every visitor's room there should be placed 

 plain, straightforward directions for finding the w.c. 



In the construction of houses, too much attention cannot be given to determining 

 the situations in which the water-closets are to be placed, in order that the access 

 may be easy and the egress private. In many houses there is only one water-closet 

 for the whole family. There should never be less than two, and it would be a good 

 thing if one were reserved exclusively for ladies. People put themselves to a 

 amount of expense in fitting up apartments and providing entertainment for their 

 friends, but they too often neglect the one thing which is so essential for their comfort 

 and well-being. 



Want of exercise is a very common cause of constipation, especially in the case of 

 women. Ladies may take a formal walk once a day, but they seldom do much more. 

 The upper classes residing in town get very little muscular exercise, except in dancing, 

 the use of the legs being almost entirely superseded by the carriage. Considering 

 the inactive life led by the majority of women above the station of domestics, one 

 feels no surprise that the bodily functions are ill-performed, but rather wonders that 

 the consequences are not more serious than they are. In spite of want and privation, 

 we find that the majority of girls in the lower classes of society are well-formed, 

 whilst the rich and well-to-do are often weak and puny. Many a kitchen-maid has 

 a physique that a duchess might envy. 



A man or woman, to keep in " good form," should have, at least, a couple of miles 

 brisk walk every day, or its equivalent in some other form of muscular exertion. 

 Some people require very much more. Dawdling about in the street and looking in 

 the shop-windows does very little good; what you want is a good sharp walk that 

 will bring the colour up in your cheeks, and make you feel in a glow all over. That 

 is Letter than pills. 



Mental anxiety is another cause of constipation. In proof of this we find that 

 many people while actively engaged in business experience considerable difficulty in 

 regulating the bowels, but as soon as they get away in the country, and emancipate 

 themselves from worry and anxiety, the mind recovers its cheerfulness, the spirits 

 their wonted elasticity, and the bowels resume their normal condition. 



Literary pursuits are said to be eminently favourable to the development of 

 constipation. There are many writers who, partly from, want of time, and partly 



