VIRGO.--The question "is cancer hereditary?" has exercised the minds of many great physicians and surgeons for a long period, and it is not yet fully answered. At the present time the general opinion seems to be that cancer is occasionally hereditary. When all sources of error are removed, as far as possible, it appears that it is very rarely hereditary, but that it is a disease that runs in one or two families--chiefly Jewish, which is strange, for cancer is uncommon among Jews as a race. Cancer rarely develops before the fortieth year. Unfortunately it is only too true that the disease is on the increase in England.
EDITH HOPPNER.--The preparation that you mention contains either carbonate or subnitrate of bismuth, sodium carbonate, mucilage of tragacanth, and either compound infusion of gentian or some simple diluent. It is not a pharmocopœial preparation, but it is exceedingly useful and frequently prescribed for indigestion or diarrhœa.
TROUBLED.--Wash your head with warm water and borax, dry it well and then apply a little sulphur ointment to the roots of the hair. The complaint is rather difficult to remedy and often lasts many years.
ELLIE.--Acne spots do get worse from exposure to the sun. We have frequently noticed this, but cannot say for certain why it should be so. Wearing a veil will keep the effects of the sun from injuring the face.
TEETH.--Have your teeth scaled if they are very thickly covered with tartar. Scaling improves and does not injure the teeth. Use the following tooth-powder:--Precipitated chalk, 50 parts; carbonate of magnesia, 50 parts; powdered cuttlefish, 5 parts; powdered orris-root, 5 parts; powdered hard soap, 5 parts; oil of cloves, 1 part.
LADY JOAN.--No, we cannot approve of girls' smoking. You are quite right, it is a dirty and disgusting sight.
MARY.--1. For the London B.A. degree, three successive examinations are necessary; matriculation, the intermediate B.A., and the final B.A. It would take you three years, under favourable conditions, to pass them.--2. As to whether a girl, just eighteen, could prepare for these examinations at home, working four hours a day, much depends on the ability and the previous education of the student; but she would have to be an unusually clever girl to accomplish it. Coaching, if only by correspondence, is most desirable. Two questions are all we can answer at one time.