Intestinal Ills / Chronic Constipation, Indigestion, Autogenetic Poisons, Diarrhea, Piles, Etc. Also Auto-Infection, Auto-Intoxication, Anemia, Emaciation, Etc. Due to Proctitis and Colitis

by Alcinous B. Jamison

Have no fear that the point will occasion disease when intelligently used. Always see to it that the point is scrupulously clean. Those made of hard rubber or metal can be kept so without effort.

Soft rubber points are always foul and dangerous, especially after they are used a few times. A good rule is never to put a point higher in the bowel than is absolutely necessary.

The ninth objection seems serious. It is that in taking an enema the water escaping from the syringe point will injure the mucous membrane where the jet strikes. But on examination this objection falls to the ground, for it stands to reason the jet cannot directly hit the surface for more than a moment. Immediately thereafter the accumulation of water will force the jet to spend its energy on the increasing volume, to lift it out of the way so that the continuous inflow may find room.

But even were it possible for the jet to strike a definite section of the mucous membrane during the taking of the enema, it could do no harm provided the water be at the proper temperature. And this is true even if a hydrant pressure be used. Not a few persons use the hydrant pressure of their houses in taking an enema. For a really successful flushing of the colon a considerable pressure is requisite to force the volume up and along a distance of five feet, especially when sitting upright. But it is folly to use a long syringe point, since it is like introducing one canal into another for the purpose of cleansing it. Therefore, have no fear from the use of proper syringe points; the jet of water will not hurt the mucous membrane. My professional brethren at least ought to know that the idea of such harm is sheer nonsense.

The tenth objection to using an enema is in being obliged to use it from the fact of having such a disease as chronic inflammation of the rectum and colon. Every victim hates to be compelled to do a thing, and the victim of proctitis and colitis is no exception to the rule. In fact, he is beginning to realize that unless he uses it his system will be poisoned by the absorption of the sewage waste. Let the victim object to the disease that necessitates the use of the enema and he will shortly be well. Then this objection to the use of the enema will indeed be the most important of all.

The eleventh objection, and the most ridiculous of all, is that it requires too much time to take the enema twice or thrice daily.

I lose all patience with persons urging this objection. Those that have little or no system with their daily duties seldom have time to do anything of importance. They suffer from "haphazarditis," a very difficult disease to cure, and they are in many cases hopeless. Usually they are an uncleanly lot of people, full of good intentions, but their intentions though taken often, seldom operate as an antidote to foulness. Their one sigh the livelong day is: "Oh, could we be like birds that can stool while on the wing or on foot!" This feat of time-saving being hardly possible in the present incarnation and order of society, they content themselves with making a storehouse out of the intestinal canal for an indefinite length of time as they concern themselves with external affairs of work or sport. A sorry lot they are indeed when they are laid up for repairs. Many doctors, I am sorry to say, encourage with a chuckle this foolish practice. "Any time to stool you can manage to get, so that you stool at least once a day, or once in every two or three days; stool when it is normal for you to do so." This criminal advice just suits the sleepy, the lazy, or the "awfully busy."

The American habit of doing things en masse, of handling things in large quantities or in bulk, has something to do with their don't care constipated habit. Small evacuations two or three times a day seem too much like small business, which, of course, is a waste of precious time. Wholesaling, laziness, lack of system, hurry, are the cause of good-for-nothingness of body and mind. It should never be too much trouble to restore the lost impulse for stooling twice or thrice daily.

Is it a small matter to have the main sewer of a city partly or entirely closed, or the main sewer pipe of a dwelling stopped up? Think of the dire results, notwithstanding that the windows and doors remain wide open! The Board of Health would soon deal with the negligent official or landlord. With very few exceptions, "civilized" men, women, and children are negligent and niggardly caretakers of the human dwelling place—the marvellous body of man. "Lack of time," "haven't the time," or "no time," is the excuse they give themselves and others.

Notwithstanding the numberless victims around them, none of these negligent and niggardly ones seem to get alarmed until the secondary symptoms, such as indigestion, gout, rheumatism, or disease of some vital organ, are sufficiently annoying to demand attention. But I have full faith in humanity. Man does the best he knows how, as a general rule. But often he doesn't know how; he needs enlightening.