P: ^02. 1/ 25 COLLEGE OF PHYSICLANS AND SURGEONS LIBRARY JcAsji^ ^yLtd^ '"'^'it Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2010 witii funding from Open Knowledge Commons http://www.archive.org/details/irrigationtreatmOOvale THE IKEIGATION TREATMENT OF G O N O R R H (E A ITS LOCAL COMPLICATIONS AND SEQUELJ: BY FEED. C. VALENTINE, M.D. Professor of Genito-Drinart Diseases, New York school of Clinical medicine; Genito-Urinary Surgeon, West Side German Dispensary; Genito- urinary CONSULTANT TO THE UNITED HEBREW CHARITIES to the metropolitan hospital and Dispensary, etc., etc. ILLUSTRATED BY FIFTY-SEVEN ENGRAVINGS NEW YORK WILLIAM WOOD AND COMPANY MDCCCC Copyright, 1900 By WILLIAM WOOD AND COMPANY Y25 THE PUBLISHERS' PRINTING COMPANY 32-34 LAFAYETTE PLACE, NEW YORK npHE GEKEEAL PEACTITIONEE, more particularly he who labors in the smaller communities, must be a specialist in all branches of medicine. The demands upon his waking and sleeping hours are usually so great that time is not his for extensive literary research or for the study of exhaustive theoretical volumes. Herein lies the motive for the present effort of the writer to offer as con- cisely as possible the essential facts in connection with the treatment of gonor- rhoea, and to place before the busy practitioner the results of his experience. The General Practitioner, who conscientiously exercises his power to benefit mankind, must treat gonorrhcea when called upon to do so ; and he must treat it in a manner that will protect his patients and the public from the consequences of this disease. Furthermore, it is the work of the General Practitioner which forms the firm foundation upon which the superstnicture of medical specialism is built ; therefore, TO THE GENERAL PRACTITIONER THIS LITTLE BOOK IS FEATERNALLY DEDICATED INTRODUCTIOISr. The larger and better works on genito-urinary diseases fully discuss gonorrhoea. Unfortunately none of them, except the master- work of Guy on, ' makes much more than casual mention of the irrigation treatment of this ever-prevalent, painful dis- ease, which when empirically treated is likely to be fraught with most disastrous consequences. It is the purpose of this little book to fill the hiatus, until abler pens supply the missing chapter in new editions of their works. 1 Guyon : Legons cliniques sur les Maladies des Voies urinaires, troisi^me Mition, Paris, 1894. THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. Goldberg' was the first to subject the results of the irriga- tion treatment of gonorrhoea to mathematical tests. He summed up the publications of all who had written favorably or other- wise on the method, and showed that these reported : 60 per cent, of acute gonorrhosas cured within 10 days, 30 " " " " " " " 14 days, 10 " " " " " were not cured. Of the last mentioned — one-tenth of the cases — the failure was clearly attributable in one-half of them to indulgence in alcohol and coitus, and the^ remaining five per cent, were not explained. These failures in the hands of such authors will probably find their explanation in those rapid invasions of the urethral adnexa which will be considered later on in discussing the complications of gonorrhoea. At all events, no method of treating gonorrhoea offers as many scientific grounds for its employment, and not another can show ninety per cent, of cases cured ivitliin fourteen days. That a large number in the profession appreciate this is shown by the following facts : In 1894 not a dozen men in the world were using the irriga- tion treatment in gonorrhoea. Many had attempted and dis- carded it, owing to defective apparatus; others had obtained negative or unfortunate results, owing to faulty technique. In face of the adverse criticisms these conditions provoked, it ' Goldberg: "Die Behandlung der Gonorrhoe mit Ausspuhmgen von iiber- mangansaurem Kali." Centralblatt fur die Krankheiten der Ham- und Sexual- Organe, Band vii., Hefte 3 l^nd 4. 1 2 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. required commendable courage on the part of Felicke of Buda- pest, Janet of Paris, E. R. W. Frank of Berlin, and Swin- burne of New York to persist in a method in which then, they alone succeeded. Some time before, I was convinced of the results obtainable and of the opportunities offered for advancing gonorrhoea from its empiric therapeutic chaos. It seemed to me that if the pro- fession at large were offered an apparatus by which irrigations might be easily and correctly performed, the advantage to science and to patients would be more readily appreciable. There is no purpose in reciting the evolution of the apparatus. It will suffice to describe herein the last result of six modifica- tions, the one now used. The middle of 1899 shows about six thousand physicians in the United States alone, using the irrigation method, errone- ously called the "Valentine method," of treating gonorrhoea. I did nothing except devise a simple apparatus, develop the technique, modify the medications, render the rules precise, and write many articles, carefully weighing the advantages and avoidable disadvantages of the irrigation treatment. I. THE IHRIGATORi This apparatus consists of a board (Fig. 1, a a) with a brass rod attached (g). Eeadily sliding upon the brass rod is a metal block, connected by a strong bar to a collar (c). This firmly holds a percolator (h) of a capacity of 1,000 c.c. (about one quart). The opening that interrupts the completeness of the collar permits easy removal of the percolator when required. The nipple of the percolator is inserted into a soft-rubber tube (0 seven feet long. The distal end of this rubber tube is Ijassed through a stopcock, whose essential parts are a ring (j) for admission of the fourth finger ; a sliding flange (k) to increase or decrease the pressure of the fluid; a shield (/) to catch the fluid that spurts from the urethra and divert it into a basin held by the patient ; a small ring (m) to suspend the stopcock when not in use. Fig. 1 shows a urethral nozzle (n) inserted into the rubber tube, projecting through the stopcock. The board has brass plates above and below perforated for THE IRRIGATOR. screws, by means of whicli the apparatus is attached to tlie wall. At/, in Fig. 1, a liook attached to the lower end of the board is shown. This hook holds a ring at the end of a stout cord. The cord passes over a pulley (d) and is fastened to the travelling block mentioned before. The variations of pressure required for anterior and in- travesical irrigations are ac- complished by the action of the right thumb and index finger on the stopcock, and not by variations in the height of the percolator. Its eleva- tion is always the same; it is lowered only for the pur- pose of filling or cleaning. Reference to Fig. 1 show^s ioo clearly to merit further study, the manner in which the parts of the apparatus are put together. Experience has demon- strated that when the top of the irrigator board is attached to the wall at an elevation of nine feet from the floor, suffi- cient pressure is obtained for all purposes. With in- creasing experience the phy- sician finds that seven and one-half feet elevation suffices. It will be found conven- ient to devote a little study to the stopcock and nozzles, de- spite their simplicity. If the stojjcock is taken in the right hand, and the fourth (ring) finger passed through the large ring on the metal tube, the thumb and index finger will easily reach and control the flange. On pushing it forward it compresses the clips, narrow- FIG. 1.— Author's Urethral and Intravesical Irrigator. THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. Fig. 3.— Author's Stopcock. ing or even closing the lumen of the rubber tube; on drawing it back, the rubber tube resumes its entire calibre. One or two efforts will teach the physician to allow single drops to escape from the nozzle. By gradually drawing back the flange the stream is increased until a strong jet carries over six feet. All variations in the flow, from mere drops to strong jet, are accom- plished with the percolator raised to its greatest height, nine feet from the floor. The value of so controlling the flow by slight contraction of the thumb and index finger will become more evident on considering the technique of irrigations. The nozzles are of glass that can be easily sterilized. Their shapes are shown in Fig. 3. ^ is a pointed nozzle, for irrigat- ing a normal meatus. It is important that the irrigating fluid have as easy exit as it has entrance into the urethra. The point of this nozzle allows washing the entire ure- thra and the meatus as well. i? is a dome-shaped nozzle devised to accom- plish anterior and pos- terior irrigations without changing the nozzle, when a meatus is congen- itally very large or has been made so by meatotomy. is a blunt nozzle for use when a congen- itally very small (pin-point) meatus would otherwise prevent irrigation, or when the normal meatus is so swollen as to prevent the introduction of nozzle A. Its orifice then is merely pressed against the meatus and the stream so directed through it into the urethra. JP- D Nozzle A for normal meatus. Nozzle B for large meatus. Nozzle C for small meatus. Nozzle D for female urethra. Fig. 3.— Glass Nozzles. THE IRRIGATOR. 5 D is devised for irrigations of the female urethra and bladder. Its shape is the same as nozzle A ; its length, however, is three times greater. The reason for its increased length lies in the fact that all females must be irrigated in the recumbent posture, and for the protection of the thighs from soiling with the irri- gating fluid as well as for self-evident anatomical reason, the shield must be brought down between the thighs. If the nozzle were as short as the others, the shield would prevent it coming into contact with the meatus. Attachment of Nozzles. — The nozzle appropriate for the size of meatus being selected with sterilized fingers, its tubular end is easily inserted into the rubber tube projecting through the Fig. 4.— Manner of Attaching a Nozzle. stopcock. After the tubular end of the nozzle is firmly inserted, the rubber tube should be drawn backward until the shoulder of the nozzle is arrested by the metal projection of the stopcock. This then holds the nozzle firmly, making it practically one piece with the stopcock. As this book may fall into the hands of one or another prac- titioner not especially so endowed that he readily grasps me- chanical ideas, I have thought well to be explicit, even to verbos- ity, in the above directions for use of the stopcock and nozzles. Another form of this irrigator was modified from suggestions submitted to me by M. Wocher & Son, of Cincinnati. The illus- tration shows that in this apparatus a metal bracket takes the place of the board previously described. The rubber tube ex- panded and reinforced will not slip out of the stopcock, and therefore requires no nozzle or closing of the clips to retain it. A supplementary bracket (s) receives and holds the percolator when it is let down to be filled. The graceful form of this irri- gating apparatus appeals to many practitioners, especially those to whom economy in office space is an object. Care of the Irrigator. — Despite the simplicity of the apparatus THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. it, like any other, would not only become unsightly, but its util- ity destroyed by uncleanli- ness. To preserve the apparatus and to have it always ready for work, it will be well to ob- serve the following rules : 1. When not in use, keep the flange of the stopcock well drawn back, so as to have no compression whatever of the rubber tube. 2. When the first described form of irrigator is used, keep a clean nozzle inserted in the rubber tube to prevent the tube slipping out of the stop- cock. Its shoulder will hold the rubber tube in place. With the bracket irrigator, as men- tioned above, this precaution is not necessary, 3. To prevent the formation of angles in the rubber tube, which would eventually cause it to break, and to reduce the strain upon the part of the tube into which the percolator's nipple is inserted, hang the stopcock mounted as above described, by its small ring upon a cup-hook conveniently placed for the purpose. 4. Thoroughly wash the ir- rigator each time after it has been used. Ordinarily it will suffice to let hot water run through it several times. Although the percolator may not be visibly stained, it should be remembered that permanganate of potassium tends quickly to destroy the rubber tube. It will be preserved almost indefinitely if this rule is observed. Fig. 5. — Modified Braclcet Irrigator. THE IRRIGATOR. 7 5. Should the percolator become soiled, let a strong solution of oxalic acid run through it. If this does not suffice, use the oxalic solution on cotton mops to rub out the stains. Fill the percolator at least three times with clean hot water after using oxalic acid, lest some remain and be accidentally injected into the urethra or bladder. 6. After each use wash all parts of the shield with soap and hot water, rub it with cotton soaked in bichloride 1 : 1,000, dry it and hang upon its hook. This precaution will prevent the possible carrying of infection to another patient. While it is true that the majority of cases irrigated have gonorrhoea, there Fig. 6.— Manner of Suspending Stopcock. is no reason for the physician to expose them to new infection. On the other hand, many patients needing irrigations are not gonorrhceal, as, for example, cases requiring urethral or vesical instrumentation or cases of contracted bladder. They certainly should not be exposed to gonorrhceal infection which can be avoided by the simple precautions of cleanliness. 7. It would be criminal negligence to subject any patient to the danger of infection by using a nozzle that has been employed in the previous case. This danger is easily avoided by the fol- lowing steps : (a) Immediately after irrigation hold the shield with the used nozzle still in place, under boiling, running water. (b) Remove the nozzle and place it into a strong bichloride solution, kept ready in a glass dish for that purpose. (c) When the day's office work is done, boil aU the used nozzles for ten minutes in strong caustic soda solution. 8 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHOEA. (d) After boiling, place the nozzles in a strong (1:1,000) bichloride solution, kept in a covered glass or china dish re- served for sterilized nozzles, (e) Rinse each nozzle again in clean hot water before using. (/) While the steps described in a to e suffice for the steril- ization of nozzles, it is not amiss to take extra precautions when a syphilitic has been irrigated. In a large practice where many nozzles are used, it is well to break the nozzle after employing it on a case with lues. If economj^ prompts keeping such noz- zles, each one should be boiled separately and kept in a test tube filled with mercuric bichloride, 1 to 1,000. The test tube may be closed with a rubber cork, marked with a number or letters to designate the patient for whom the nozzle is used. The indications for irrigations, their technique, and the solutions employed will be considered under the special heads where they properly belong. II. ACUTE ANTERIOR GONORRHCEA. In intromission during sexual intercourse the lips of the meatus are more or less pressed apart, causing the meatus to gape. On each withdrawal the lips are pressed together by the same vaginal pressure that pressed them apart on insertion. This gives the meatus a motion which may be compared to the opening and closing of a fish's mouth when feeding. If the vagina harbors gonococci, and if the penis is part of a body with lowered resistance, the infection, however reduced in the female, will fijid a new culture ground in the male urethra. In contravention to this it may be offered that gonorrhoea most frequently affects men in the best possible physical condi- tion. It is equally true, though, that men in full vigor are the most likely to expose themselves to venereal infection. Again, a number of persons appear who contracted gonorrhoea without intromission, such as, for instance, when emission of semen took place before the penis could be inserted into the vagina. These are easily explained by the fact that the female urethra and Bartholini's glands are a very frequent site of re- sidual gonorrhoea. Extra-genital gonorrhoea, i.e., its acquisition otherwise than ACUTE ANTERIOR GOXORRHCEA. 9 from an infected female, as for instance from a water-closet, is improbable, unless a man with an immense meatus were to reck- lessly smear it over the seat upon which gonorrhoeal discharge had been left by another/ Taylor' says that the acquisition of gonorrhoea on a " foul privy or urinal may be looked upon as a euphemism to be used in the case of some clerical, venerable, or married transgressor." One distinct case of extra-genital gonorrhoeal infection, how- ever, came under my observation in 1897. A gentleman had contracted gonorrhoea fifteen years before. The case was per- sistent and followed by stricture, for which his physician used sounds. These had been discontinued for several years. The patient had for five years been engaged in severe mental labor, during which, as happens under such circumstances, he experi- enced no sexual desire. A few months before being sent to me he became engaged to be married. He had forgotten everything connected with his former gonorrhoea and stricture. Two months before the day set for his wedding, this gentleman, while in the rooms of a friend, saw a sound lying on the wash- stand. It was a 30 F, the same number he had last used. To ascertain whether his urethra had preserved its calibre, he es- sayed introduction of the sound into his own urethra, and found no difficulty in doing so. Three days later he had all the evi- dences of acute gonorrhoea. If this patient's veracity were not beyond dispute, the etiology of his attack might have been questioned. An examination of his discharge showed distinct gonococci grouped within pus corpuscles, attached to epithelia and disseminated between them. The friend whose sound was borrowed had no discharge, but rcmionage of his urethra proved that it contained gonococci. Some time later the Cenircdhlatt fur KranhJieiten der Ham- und Sexual- Or gone contained a report made by the patient (a physician) to show an extraordinarily long period of incubation of gonorrhoea — three weeks. The manner of infection is equally interesting. The doctor had taken a specimen of a fresh gon- orrhoeal discharge for microscopic examination. Through care- lessness he had soiled his fingers with the discharge. Being suddenly seized with a desire to urinate, he quickly took his 1 Taylor : The Pathology and Treatment of Venereal Diseases, 1895. 10 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. penis from his garments, and in doing so communicated some of his patient's discharge to his own meatus. The result was a fully developed gonorrhoea. There doubtless may be similar cases of extra-genital infec- tion, still they are exceedingly rare. At all events, when as- serted, it can do no harm to give the patient the benefit of the doubt. When gonococci have entered the meatus, they at once pro- ceed to proliferate by segmentation. At any time between twenty -four hours and nine or ten days post coitum, the lips of the meatus are reddened, swollen, and a watery oozing presents. This soon becomes successively whitish, white, whitish-yellow, yellowish, yellow, yellowish-green, and later on possibly stained with blood. With deepening of the color the discharge becomes more copious and thick. The other symptoms of acute anterior gonorrhoea merit at- tention. White and Martin' hold that even preceding the first slight puffing of the meatus, the patient experiences a constant desire to handle and examine the penis. I believe that this is not likely to occur except in those patients who have had gonor- rhoea before, or in married men who have had illicit intercourse. This direction of the patient's mind to his penis may be due to that "conscience does make cowards of us all." Coincident with or shortly before the first slight tumefaction of the meatus, there may, however, be a tickling in the affected region. This is soon followed by a sense as if the urine were very hot. Replying to the irritation caused by the increased number of the gonococci seeking more food in the urethral mucosa, nature tries to wash away the disturbance by increased urination and increased secretion of urethral mucus. The pa- tient, yielding to the more frequent calls to urination, experi- ences intense scalding and cutting pain with each act. When the gonococci have caused the destruction of the mucosa in spots, the pain on urination becomes intolerable, to subside only after the gonococci have exhausted their food supply of mucosa, or when the nerve terminals are protected by tissue hyperplasia. ' WTiite and Martin : Genito-Urinary Surgery and Venereal Diseases, Lippincott, 1898. ACUTE ANTERIOR GONORRHCEA. 11 Coincident with the irritation, the urethra and its adjacent tissues are the site of blood afflux. Its results will be con- sidered under the complications of acute gonorrhoea. As the pains on urination grow more severe, the first 50 to 100 c.c. (fl 3 ii. to fl 3 iii.) become turbid. Caustic potash added to this urine shows it to be laden with pus. The pain may, however, be entirely absent or may, in severe cases, con- tinue even between the intervals of urination. This mere outline of a sketch of the development of a clap premises its arrest at or before the compressor, i.e., when it re- mains an uncomplicated anterior gonorrhoeal urethritis. That it rarely does so is only too evident to physicians who give the subject careful attention. Many text-books advocate "waiting for the acute stage to pass off." This waiting unfortunately allows the gonococci to increase, the infection to invade the tissues more deeply, to pro- ceed beyond the compressor, to develop local complications, to involve other organs, and to make a life-endangering disease of what should have been arrested in its incipiency. So far as our present knowledge goes, the end in view is best attained by irrigations, employed as early as possible. How the irrigations exercise a beneficial effect may be subject to hon- est differences of opinion. Potassic permanganate, the drug most frequently employed for the purpose, is held to liberate oxygen in the tissues ; if the gonococcus is an anaerobic microbe, it would die in the presence of oxygen. Then irrigations of hydrogen peroxide should have a more prompt effect, which, however, is disproven in practice. The theorj'^ that seems most acceptable is that the large volumes of hot water (110° to 120° F.) employed induce a species of artificial oedema of. the urethra, making it an unfavorable cul- ture medium for gonococci. At all events, it is nothing rare to find the heavy greenish or bloody discharge, the frightful pains on urination, converted into a mere watery excess and painless, normal urination after one or two irrigations. Even if the course of the disease were not abbreviated and complications avoided by irrigation, these two results alone would justify ardent advocacy of this method of treatment. 12 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHOEA. III. ANTERIOR IRRIGATIONS. Irrigations of the anterior urethra are employed : 1. In infection of the anterior urethra; 2. After any instrumentation of the anterior urethra, whether for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. Since making it an in- variable rule to irrigate the uretha even after urethroscopy, I have had not a single case of urethral fever to record. The technique of anterior irrigations may be divided into preparation of the patient and the performance of the irrigation itself. Their necessarily detailed description may make them appear complicated and difficult ; their proper execution, how- ever, is simple and easy. The time they consiyne never ex- tends over five minutes, even with a very sensitive or apprehen- sive patient receiving his first irrigation. As soon as the patient has learned the painlessness of a gentle, properly executed irri- gation and has experienced the relief it affords him, he becomes the physician's active coadjutor in further treatment. Preparation of the Patient. — After the record of the case is written, a specimen of the discharge taken for microscopic ex- amination, and the urine examined, the patient is instructed ; 1. To drop his trousers to his knees. 2. To fold his shirt and undershirt upward, exposing the abdomen. 3. To sit on a chair with a firm, strong back, in such a posi- tion that his weight does not rest upon the tuberosities of the ischium but upon the sacrum ; in other words, he is placed as far forward as possible upon the front margin of the chair. 4. To rest his shoulders against the back of the chair. 5. To plant the soles of his feet firmly upon the floor. 6. To direct his face upward, toward the ceiling. It is well always to give this last instruction, lest a patient with a malo- dorous breath discover that an invidious distinction is made in his case. This position serves the good purpose of saving the physician the unnecessary disagreeable knowledge that would otherwise interfere with his work. "When the bad odor of the breath is due to digestive disturb- ance it should be remedied by appropriate treatment as quickly A>'TERIOR IRRIGATIOXS. 13 as possible, so that no other condition may reduce the patient's resistance to further invasion of the gonococci. 7. If the physician is not experienced in irrigations, it is \rell to protect the patient's garments with a large rubber apron, made for the purpose with a hole, for the penis. 8. A pan or bowl of tin or agate ware is then washed, inside and out, in hot running water and then wiped di-y. It is well to Fig. 7.— Posture of Patient for Irria^tion in Recumbent Position. do this before and after each irrigation, and in such a manner that the patient must observe the precaution ; it aids in keeping his attention fixed upon the need of taking every care against infection of others and of auto-reinfection. 9. A clean towel is placed upon the patient's lap and drawn up to cover his testicles, but not his penis. 10. The basin, still warm from its cleansing in hot water, is plaxied upon the towel, and the patient is told to hold it with both hands. The penis is laid upon the margin of the basin 14 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. and the latter slightly tilted, so that the rim upon which the penis lies encroaches upon the peno-scrotal juncture. Excessively nervous patients may be inclined to faint on merely receiving the above instructions. It is well to irrigate such patients in the recumbent, posture. For this purpose place a bidet or irrigating pan upon the operating-table. Draw the patient's linen well up to beyond his lower ribs, and his trou- sers and drawers down to below his knees. Let his buttocks rest far back on the pan, to leave as much of it exposed as possible. Place a tin bowl between his knees, tilted with its concavity up- ward, so that any untoward motion on his part sending the irri- gating fluid beyond the shield may be caught by the bowl and directed into the pan upon which he lies. The irrigation may then be made as easily as when the patient is seated, and with- out danger of his fainting. In very exceptional cases, perhaps once in a thousand, a pa- tient is found who unconsciously responds to irrigations by a relaxation of the compressor. The consequence is that the fluid intended for anterior irrigation enters the bladder. When a very strong solution (such as potassic permanganate, 1 : 500) is used, a very severe vesical tenesmus at least is induced there- by. In such cases it is best to irrigate the patient in the stand- ing posture, and to teach him to press his fingers upon the perineal portion of the urethra to occlude it. Technique of an Anterior Irrigation. — 1. Stand at the pa- tient's right side. 2. Cleanse the penis, foreskin, glans, and meatus with cotton tampons soaked in mercuric bichloride, 1:3,000. If it is pre- ferred to accomplish the cleansing with the irrigating solution ; then 3. Take the stopcock in the right hand as shown in Fig. 4, page 5, and for additional safety pass it under running boiling water, into which a small quantity of the irrigating fluid should be allowed to escape ; then close the flange. 4. Take the penis in the left hand, holding the left corpus cavernosum by the third, fourth, and fifth fingers in such a manner that their tips rest lightly upon the urethra. The left thenar eminence, by being pressed inward, compresses and al- most grasps the right corpus cavernosum. The bent thumb and index finger are thus left free for manipulation of the foreskin, ANTERIOR IRRIGATIONS. 15 y^^-.^^,..^ glans, and meatus. Tliis manner of holding the penis will at a first effort appear to cramp the hand, but after two or three irri- gations it will be found the most effective and easiest. 5. Gentlj draw the flange of the stopcock back by contract- ing the right thumb and index finger. This will allow a fine stream to escape from the nozzle. Direct this stream to the outer surface of the foreskin until all its parts are thoroughly cleansed. 6. Increase the stream slightly while directing it to the opening of the foreskin. With the left thumb and index finger slowly evert the foreskin and, as its mucous lin- ing is thus being ex- posed, wash each part as it comes into view. 7. When the entire foreskin is retracted, wash the sulcus behind the corona, the glans, the sulci at either side of the frenum, and the lips of the meatus in the same manner. When the foreskin is so tight that it cannot be everted, drop the penis and take up the top of the foreskin with the left thumb and index fingers. This will leave the opening of the foreskin slightly gaping. Insert the nozzle into the opening of the foreskin and increase the force of the stream until the preputial pouch is thoroughly ballooned. Give the tip of the nozzle every possible direction, so that the pouch may thus be as effectively cleansed as possible. 8. After cleansing the foreskin, glans, etc., and holding the penis as shown in Fig. 8, above, contract the thumb and index finger upon the glans, so as to open the meatus. 9. Direct the stream at first gently and then with increasing force into the opened meatus, until all visible excess of secretion is washed from it. 10. Bring the nozzle closer and closer to the meatus until its point is within the lips. 11. Compress the urethra with the tips of the left third, fourth, and fifth fingers, to entirely occlude it. 12. Augment the force of the fiow until the fluid spurts from Fig. 8.— Manner of Holding Penis for Irrigation. 16 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. the meatus in such a manner that it is received by the shield and flows from it into the basin held by the patient. The im- pact of the fluid is felt against the tip of the middle finger, where it compresses the urethra. 13. When one-fifth of the contents of the percolator are con- sumed in the irrigation of the anterior third of the anterior urethra, the middle finger is relaxed and the fluid's impact is immediately felt upon the tip of the fourth left finger that com- presses the urethra. 14. The same procedure is successively observed regarding the urethra compressed hj the fifth left finger, and the impact of the fluid, with increased force, is sent to the bottom of the anterior urethra, i.e., to the anterior surface of the mucosa in front of the compressor. During every step of an anterior irrigation enough force must be used to fully dilate (balloon) the urethra. The nozzle should never occlude the meatus entirely, especially when strong solutions are used, lest they be forced beyond the compressor into the bladder. The division of the amounts of fluid used for each part of the urethra will soon become so much a matter of routine that the operator need not observe the percolator to guide him. After each irrigation a layer of absorbent cotton soaked in mercuric bichloride, 1:6,000, should be placed upon the glans to receive any subsequent discharge, preventing as far as pos- sible auto-reinfection, and to keep the clothing clean. If the foreskin is absent or too small to hold the cotton, it should be fixed in place by means of a light gauze bandage. The patient should be instructed to apply a clean piece of cotton soaked in bichloride after each urination. Some cases are exceedingly susceptible to the irritant efi'ect of mercuric bichloride, even a solution of 1:10,000 or of 1: 30,000 sets up an inflammation of the glans. Boric acid, four per cent., may be used in such cases to wet the cotton. The cotton used as above must not be substituted by any- thing else. Gonorrhoea-bags and condoms, so often advised for the purpose, keep the glans macerated in pus, not only inviting persistent auto-reinfection, but also exposing the glans to gon- orrhcBal balanitis, for whose existence there is no excuse. Some authors recommend a little apron made of linen or ANTERIOR IRRIGATIONS. IT gauze, cut about two inches square, with, a slit in the centre to let the glans pass through. The ends of the apron are then folded forward to cover the glans and meatus. If the patient be sure to take off this apron each time he urinates and replace it with a fresh one, its convenience might make it advisable to a degree. But it is entirely too convenient merely to open the ends, urinate and replace the soiled ends over the glans. More- over, the ends are easily brushed open and thus the garments Fig. 9.— Anterior Irrigation, Patient Seated. Towel over thiglis omitted for clearness of illus- tration. are exposed to being soiled by the pus. For these reasons it is best to use absorbent cotton, as above suggested. All parts of an irrigation can, without any special dexterity, be so conducted that neither the patient's garments, his person, nor the ofl&ce floor be soiled. Nothing need be stained, except the operator's left fingers, when using strong solutions of jjotas- sic permanganate. They can be quickly cleaned with oxalic acid or sodic bisulphide. As cleanly as an irrigation should be, so painless it is when properly carried out. Even an intensely inflamed urethra ex- periences no pain if the operator is sufficiently' gentle. In this, as in all other genito-urinary work, suaviter in modo occu- pies first place ; fortiter in re need not at all suffer thereby. 2 ^ 18 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHOEA. For this reason analgesia of the urethra with cocaine or eucaine need not be induced. Moreover, when their obtunding effect wears off, the patients experience more pain than if they had not been used at all. The time consumed by irrigations has been alleged as an ob- jection to their employment. A deliberate, properly conducted anterior irrigation requires about two minutes, certainly not too much time to devote in each visit to so important a disease as anterior gonorrhoea. If only relief from suffering were obtained thereby, even ten times two minutes would be well employed. But the physician, knowing how dangerous to life gonorrhcea is, should not begrudge any amount of time and labor directed to this end. Even if the disease was acquired in the grossest im- morality, even if the patient is of the lowest, most degraded type, it is unqualifiedly the physician's duty to give the best efforts in order to prevent the dissemination of the disease to others who may possibly be innocent of any wrong. The frequency with which irrigations should be employed in acute anterior gonorrhea is set forth in the following table. The solutions referred to therein are of potassium permanganate, — the drug most frequently used by all who emplo3^ irrigations. The dilutions are modified from those advised in Janet's tables, which, for some reason, seem too strong for use in this country. It will be observed that intravesical irrigations appear in this table. The technique of these will be described in Chapter V. (Intravesical Irrigations) : First day, first visit. Anterior irrigation 1 : 3,000 ^ / ^/ First day, 7 p.m. Anterior irrigation 1 : 4,000 ^JC^jV l< Second day. 9 a.m. Anterior irrigation 1 : 3,000 ^y7f / Second day, 7 p.m. Anterior irrigation 1 : 4,000 ' ^^ j ( Anterior irrigation 1:2,000 o v Fifth day, noon. Intravesical irrigation 1 : 5.000 Sixtli day, noon. Intravesical irrigation 1 : 5,000 Seventh day, noon. Intravesical irrigation 1 : 5,000 -r-,. ,,, 1 n ( Intravesical irrigation 1:5,000 Eighth day, 9 A.M. -\ ^ ' ( Anterior irrigation 1 : 3,000 Intravesical irrigation 1 : 5,000 Eighth day, 7 p.m. Anterior irrigation 1 : 2,000 ACUTE POSTERIOR GONORRHOEA. 19 ■KT- *T, ^ n ( Intravesical irrigation 1 : 4,000 Ninth day, 9 A.M. ■ ° ' ( Anterior irrigation 1 : 1,000 -•T- ^u 1 " i Intravesical irrigation 1 : 4.000 Ninth day, i p.m. - ° ( Anterior irrigation 1 : 1,000 Tenth day, 9 a. m. \ Intravesical irrigation 1 : 4,000 ( Anterior irrigation 1 : 1,000 ™ ,, , - ( Intravesical irrigation 1 : 5,000 Tenth day, /p.m. - ° . " ( Anterior irrigation 1 : 500 The hours at which irrigations are to be administered have been fitted to the exigencies of most physicians' office hours. It would be always preferable, however, when irrigations are to he given twice in one day, that they be made twelve hours apart. IV. ACUTE POSTERIOR GONORRHOEA. De Keersmaecker and Verhoogen' in brief remarks on acute posterior gonorrhoea, say : " The inflammation proceeds along the whole urethral mucosa, but its intensity decreases generally in accord with its distance from the point where the inoculation was produced, as is observed in every local infection. " It seems, however, that posterior gonorrhoeal invasion is an exception hereto. The gonococci having traversed the compressor find a new field of culture in the posterior urethra. The}' often set up an inflammation far exceeding in virulence that which affects the anterior urethra. In many cases the patient's sufferings are not only materially increased, but, as Posner^ says, "the portals for infection of other organs are thereby thrown open." Jadassohn holds that sixty to seventy per cent, of anterior gonorrhoeas invade the posterior urethra ; Finger places the ex- treme figure at eighty per cent. ; while Taylor^ claims that "an- terior urethritis in between eighty and ninety per cent, of cases within the early days of infection passes backward and involves the posterior urethra." Close clinical study of the question makes it appear likely that even Taylor underestimates the fre- quency with which the posterior urethra is involved in the dis- ' De Keersmaecker et Verhoogen : L'Ur^thrite chroniqne. Brussels, 1898. ■■^Posner: Diagnostic der Harnkrankheiten, Berlin, 1894. ^ Taylor : The Pathology and Treatment of Venereal Diseases, Lea Bros. & Co., 1895. 20 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEa. ease. Indeed White and Martin' say that the gonococcus " with but few exceptions invades the posterior urethra." Wossidlo" urges that no apparently cured case of acute gon- orrhoea be dismissed without examination of the prostate, al- though the posterior urethra does not seem to have been affected. The absence of symptoms of posterior urethritis is no proof that the posterior urethra was not infected by the gonococci on their way to the adnexa. Causes. — Anything that decreases the vital resistance of the posterior urethra, menaced by the presence of anterior gonor- rhoea, and increases the intensity of the latter, is likely to pro- duce posterior gonorrhqea. Among the most frequent causes are neglect of treatment, coitus, irritants applied to the urethra, alco- hol, fermented or carbonated beverages, and excessive activity. Time of Invasion. — A neglected or badly treated anterior gonorrhoea usually invades the posterior urethra by the end of the first week. The patient, however, may perceive no symp- toms thereof until the end of the second week. A few days later the evidences are often too marked to escape attention. Posterior gonorrhoea may, on the other hand, become jjain- fully manifest at the very beginning of the disease, especially if strong injections, violently applied, increase the irritation. This may convey to those not familiar with the irrigation treat- ment, a condemnation of its employment. But it must be re- membered that the irrigations applied to the entire urethra are not strong ; moreover, they so modify the urethral mucosa as to make it an unfavorable culture medium for gonococci. This in a measure explains the absence of posterior gonorrhoea when irrigations are properly employed. Some authors mention the use of bougies as a means of im- mediately establishing a posterior gonorrhoea. Naturally they do this only to condemn the insertion of any instrument into an acutely inflamed urethra. Ipse facto, this is a condemnation of attempting to wash the urethra with a catheter or treat it with anthrophores. Symptoms. — As noted above, very many cases of acute pos- ' White and Martin : Genito-Urinary Surgery and Syphilis, Lippincott, 1898. ^Wossidlo: "Chronic Prostatitis and Its Treatment." Journal of the American Medical Association, August 27th, 1898. ACUTE POSTERIOE GONORRHCEA. 21 terior gonorrhoea are insiduous in their onset, course, and decline. Most of these disappear without any special treatment being directed to the region infected. Indeed in former times the posterior urethra was deemed one of the " sacred regions " not to be entered by instruments or drugs, and yet many cases ap- peared to have recovered. How many of these subsided after carrying gonococci to the urethral adnexa and general organism is beyond calculation. The hope of those who strive to heal acute posterior urethritis by treatment of the anterior urethra alone, may be compared with that of the gynecologist who en- deavors to drain pus-tubes by curetting, washing, and draining the womb. Both appear to succeed often ; but as concerns pos- terior urethritis, the physician would fall short of his duty if he risked further complications by trusting to the chance that oc- casionally seems to have favored the past. 31eclianism of the Symptomatology . — In the insidious form, the very slight sufferings or their absence may not direct atten- tion to the posterior urethra. In the severe form, nature endeav- ors to assuage the inflammation by free secretion of urine. Its contact with a surface rendered exquisitely sensitive produces intense burning. After the flow of urine has ceased, the in- flamed surfaces fall against each other, and in so doing give the sensation of an incompletely accomplished urination. At the same time the folds of the thickened mucosa squeeze between them the delicate nerve terminals, producing the characteristic after-pains. When somewhat deep denudations have taken place, the capillaries may break, allowing blood to escape, which may be mixed with the last portion of the urine, may follow it as clear drops ; or a distinct stream of blood may flow, or the urine may carry small worm-like clots, if blood coagulates in the pos- terior urethra. The swelling of the mucosa and pain evoke frequent, almost continual spasmodic and semi-voluntary contractions as if in effort to eject the obstructions. This activity of the region in- creases the symptoms as it augments the inflammation. The vicious circle obtains another segment by each effort of nature to pour out urine. The latter becomes so frequent that the patient continually strives to empty his bladder, and while he fails to obtain a sense of relief, by acting upon the desire to uri- nate, he increases his pain. 22 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHOEA. As above suggested, there is no exact clironological order in wliicli tlie manifestations of acute posterior urethritis follow each other. Indeed, they may all appear to come on together with extreme severity. For convenience in studying them a little more closely, they are here placed in alphabetical order. Albuminuria. — When the urine carries pus, it accounts for the presence of a proportionate amount of albumin. In acute posterior gonorrhoea, when vesical tenesmus is at its highest, the amount of albumin carried by the urine exceeds that which would be expected from the amount of pus present. White and Martin' deem this excess " probably due to damming back of the urine in the ureters, dependent upon closure of the orifices of these canals by contraction of the detrusor muscles of the bladder ; this having been shown to take place when tenesmus is severe." Complications. — Proximity and continuity of mucous surface render the prostate, seminal vesicles, and epididymides exceed- ingly susceptible to infection from posterior gonorrhoea. The epithelium covering the trigone, from its similarity in character to that of the posterior urethra, is also liable to the infection, but to a limited degree. The epithelium lining the body of the bladder, however, seems immune to gonorrhoeal infection, ex- cept when a pre-existent disease has weakened its resistance, or when traumatism has been exerted upon it, as by the abuse of instruments. Constitutional Symjotoms.— When a patient with gonorrhoea suffers from loss of appetite, headache, constipation, marked mental depression, even to profound neurasthenia, and appre- ciable fever, the physician's attention is naturally directed to the probable invasion of the posterior urethra. These general symptoms may come on gradually or suddenly, and are as likely to occur in chronic as in acute anterior gonorrhoea. If given immediate attention, severe general suffering and more danger- ous involvement of the urethral adnexa may be averted. Discharge. — The tonic contraction of the compressor prevents the discharge of acute posterior gonorrhoea from entering the anterior urethra. When it is so copious as to fill the posterior urethra, the slight, weak bundle of fibres constituting the ' Op. cit. ACUTE POSTERIOR GONORRHCEA. 23 sphincter vesicae is more likely to j-ield to the pressure and so admit the discharge into the bladder. Even stripping the posterior urethra per rectum will not aid satisfactorily in the production of discharge from the posterior urethra, for the same reasons as given above. The only means of positively reaching conclusions regarding involvement of the posterior urethra, in addition to giving due heed to the other symptoms, is by ex- amination of the urine {vide Urine infra). Naturally vs^hen the symptoms appear in the fulminant type, this aid to diagnosis is impossible and would be superfluous. Emissions. — As abstinence from sexual intercourse is impera- tive during gonorrhoea, for the patient's sake as well as for the sake of those to whom the disease may be communicated by him, and as the local irritation of even an anterior gonorrhoea is prone to stimulate increased secretion of semen, seminal emis- sions are not infrequent. They occur especiallj^ in men who are given to daily sexual intercourse. When, however, posterior urethritis has produced hypereesthesia of the caput gallinaginis, the emissions of semen may be exceedingly painful, the suffer- ings being either disseminated through the perineum, extend- ing up to the rectum, or tearing and shooting along the posterior urethra. These pains are often so intense that the patient is afraid to fall asleep, lest he be awakened bj^ an emission that would evoke their recurrence. Erections. — Posterior urethritis is liable to provoke erections at all times, with or without erotic incitation. They are most frequent when warm in bed, but are painless unless there be acute anterior urethritis as well. Hcematuria. — Drops of blood, unmixed with urine, may escape from the urethra at the end of micturition. This is usu- ally considered a positive evidence of posterior urethritis. While it most frequently occurs in this disease, it may also be present in some forms of bladder growths (polypus, papilloma) and stone. When due to posterior urethritis, the bleeding comes from the swollen, congested, and even eroded mucosa. If the bleeding is copious it may flow into the bladder and be mixed with its contents ; then, too, some drops or a jet of clear blood will follow urination. In such a case the urine may also carry small, worm-like clots of blood. Pain. — The pain of fulminant acute posterior urethritis is 24 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. usually most marked in the perineum. It is due to muscular spasm, provoked by the tenesmus. Its severity may be so great as to cause the patient to act as if afflicted with acute mania. Between the attacks of intense pain the patient may have tick- ling, burning, and sharp lancinations through the deep urethra, extending up the rectum. All these disturbances are aggravated by urination or defecation ; they most frequently follow the act of urination. Retention of Urine. — If the posterior urethra is very much swollen, the frequency of urination may suddenly be arrested and acute retention take its place. The sufferings that before were somewhat remittent then become continuous. The reten- tion may become quite obstinate from the increase of swelling and reflex tonic contraction of the sphincters. (See also Com- plications of Gonorrhoea : Retention. ) Urination. — ^^The slightest quantity of urine coming into con- tact with the inflamed posterior urethra provokes the desire to urinate. The patient must then micturate every few minutes. His straining to pass the few drops is accompanied by intense pain. Although passage of these drops gives no relief, the patient continues his efforts to urinate incessantly, being im- pelled thereto by the sense of vesical repletion. His only relief, when not treated, is in the few moments of sleep or fainting that exhaustion brings. In a case that is not so acute as the one described, there may be no painful straining. But the urination is frequent and imperious. The desire when felt must be immediately gratified, otherwise the patient will urinate into his trousers. Urine. — When acute disturbances of urination do not pre- vent examination of the urine, and when the other symptoms or conditions direct attention to the posterior urethra, the only method of reaching a diagnosis is by examination of the urine. Even when no suspicion guides to thoughts of posterior urethral invasion, the urine of a gonorrhoeic should be examined daily, so that the extension of the disease may be met at its inception. The examination should be made, if possible, of the first urine the patient passes in the morning. When this is not pos- sible, because of the distance at which the patient lives from the physician's office, the examination may be made during the day, but after the patient has held his urine for at least four hours. ACUTE POSTERIOR GONORRHCEA. 25 The patient should be caused to pass the first portion, about 150 c.c. (fl 3 V.) into a twelve-inch ignition tube.' This washes the anterior urethra as clean as possible, but naturally carries with it as much discharge from the posterior urethra as can be easily detached from its walls. The urine so emitted will there- fore often be much more turbid than would be expected from a slight discharge. The second 150 c.c. emitted into another tube, if the patient have posterior urethritis, will be found more turbid than the first portion. Naturally this symptom is not characteristic if the patient have cystitis or pyelitis, or when a disease of the prostate or seminal vesicles causes their contents to be expressed with the fijial efi^orts of micturition. In the absence of these diseases, and when the posterior urethra produces much dis- charge, it may flow back into the bladder and render its con- tents turbid. If the discharge is not copious, it will be carried off by the first urine, and leave the subsequent urine clear. Both urines, however, may be clear when the jjatient urinates frequently. - To cover the possibility of error in these cases, practitioners are ordinarily advised to wash out the anterior urethra by means of a soft catheter before allowing the patient to urinate. The greater ease and safety by which the urethra can be cleansed by means of anterior irrigations make the latter method preferable. By carefully exercising the technique of anterior irrigations (see page 12), and using warm boric-acid solution for the purpose, the anterior urethra can be quickly freed from any discharge it may at the time harbor. "WTien the solution that spurts from the meatus is entirely clear of even fine granules, the patient should immediately urinate into two tubes. If the first tube contains pus and the second does not, the diagnosis of posterior urethritis is established wdth a fair degree of accurac3^ A better and not much more circumstantial test, especially applicable when the urine is not turbid, can be made by add- ing to the boric acid used for irrigation a quantity of methylene blue representing one per cent, of its quantity (twenty-four grains ^ These twelve-inch ignition tubes are erroneously called "Valentine's urine tubes "by dealers. I did nothing but suggest the convenience of these tubes for macroscopic examination, comparison, and chemical and microscopical investigations of lu-ine. 26 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHOEA. to the quart) . If tlie urine passed into the first tube contains shreds, filaments, flakes, or granules which the microscope shows to be stained blue, it would tend to prove that they come from the anterior urethra. If they are not stained by the irrigation, their source is the posterior urethra. The need of careful study and early treatment of posterior urethritis is evident, despite the fact that many of the cases appear to recover without treatment. Their tendency is to go over into a subacute or chronic state, to produce recurrent gon- orrhoea, and to evoke a long list of neuroses which are often in- effectually treated until the source of the evil is ascertained. Treatment. — As is quite natural, the treatment of acute pos- terior urethritis must vary in accord with the form in which it appears. If its onset is in the most insidious manner, so that its presence is determined only by examination of the urine, the safest, quickest, and easiest method of cutting it short is by intravesical irrigations, whose technique is fully detailed on page 29. These intravesical irrigations may be performed once daily, beginning with potassium permanganate solution of 1 : 6,000; on the second day the strength of the solution may be increased to 1:5,000; on the third day 1:4,000 may be used and if no reaction result, a further increase to 1 : 3,000 maj' be employed on the fourth and subsequent days. Some patients' bladders will very comfortably bear much stronger solutions. If in five or sis days the urine does not indicate complete subsidence of the posterior urethritis, mercuric bichloride may be added to the jjotassic permanganate solution last emploj^ed. The addition of the bichloride should at first not be stronger than 1 : 50,000. On the second day this may be made 1 : 40,000; on the third day 1 : 30,000 ; on the fourth day 1 : 25,000. Only in very persistent cases can 1 : 20,000 be employed. Some cases do better with the bichloride alone and in the solutions above indicated. Occasionally a case will be found in which neither the per- manganate nor the bichloride nor both in combination yield prompt effects. Then silver nitrate may be employed in solu- tions of 1 : 5,000, 1 : 4,000, 1 : 3,000, or 1 : 2,500, using the mildest on the first day and daily increasing the strength, but not beyond 1:2,500. ACUTE POSTERIOR GONORRHCEA. 27 These irrigations, when properly conducted, are borne ex- ceedingly well by patients ; they experience an almost immediate relief fi'om the slight subjective or reflex symptoms due to the iDsidious form of the disease under discussion. When acute posterior gonorrhoea asserts itself in the fulmi- nant form, the prime indication is to break the before-described vicious circle at some point. As in all acute inflammations, rest of the affected region must be sought. Patients so affected should be kept in bed and on a diet of little else than skimmed milk. Mild laxatives, that keep the rectum clear and deplete the jjelvic viscera, must be persistently given. The one drug that gives signal relief in hyperacute cases is santal oil. As was shown by investigations made in Berlin in 1894 and 1895, santal oil caimot be expected to act as a gono- coccicide.' It does, however, prove a decided analgesic of the urinary apparatus, and especially its lower part. To procure its effect as quickly as possible, it may be given in ten minim doses every two hours for six or eight hours. As soon as the tenesmus begins to subside and the bleeding after urination materially decreases, the inteiwals should be increased to four, five, or six hours, until pain has entirely disappeared. As this drug is prone to evoke renal irritation, it should be withdraum as soon as the indications for its use have subsided. The teas (infusions) of uva ursi leaves, hemiaria, chenopo- dium, triticum rejjens, etc., which were formerly highly lauded for their presumed efl'ects in such cases, have proven ineff^ective in my hands. They only augment diuresis, and in doing so in- crease the activity of the inflamed parts, that should be kejjt at rest. Salicylate of sodium and salol, which often show such fa- vorable results in cystitis, jjiove utterly inactive in acute poste- rior urethritis. When the attack is so severe that the eft'ect of santal oil can- not be awaited, then morphine gr. ^ - i, especially in supposi- tories, will afford quick relief. 'WTien this does not act piromptly iodoform, gr. +, may be added to the suppository. Belladonna has yielded no results to me in doses that are safely adminis- tered. At the same time that the suppositories and santal oil ' Valentine : "Der Einflu-ss der Balsamicis, insbesondere des Santalols auf Gonococcen." Pick's Archiv. April, 1895. 28 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. are used, local depletion may be hastened by the application of four to six leeches to the peri- neum. It is generally held that when acute gonor- rhcea suddenly invades the posterior urethra, direct treatment of the anterior urethra is contra- indicated. Comparison of the results of this neglect of treatment with those obtained by con- tinuing local treatment show to the decided ad- vantage of the latter. Therefore irrigations must be continued. If the patient is too weak to have them administered in the sitting posture, he may receive them while lying in bed. To facilitate such irrigations a sewing-board or leaf of an ex- tension table may be pushed under that part of the mattress beneath the patient's buttocks. With ordinary care, irrigations can then be performed without even moistening the bed-clothes. It is more particularly in the exceedingly severe cases which persist despite all the treatment above described that intravesical irrigations of potassium permanganate give prompt relief. The hot (110° to 120° r.) antiseptic solutions, ver}^ gentlj^ ad- ministered, seem to act as a soothing poultice to the inflamed, eroded posterior urethra. It is not rare to see a patient after such an irrigation fall asleep and rest comfortably for several hours, to awake much relieved. Guyon uses several drops of a one to two per cent, silver nitrate solution instilled into the pos- terior urethra. While the relief so obtained can- not be denied, the local reaction that follows is frequently very severe. This may be limited by precedent appreciable doses of morphine, by pre- liminary instillation of a few drops of cocaine if one is sure that the patient is not too susceptible to its toxic effects, or by giving the patient a quarter of a tea- spoonful of sodic bicarbonate (Kobner) thirty minutes before making the instillation. If, for any reason, irrigations cannot be employed, Guj'on'a POSTERIOR OR INTRAVESICAL IRRIGATIONS. 29 instillations may be used every two or three days. The severe pains they produce can be very materially reduced, and often entirely avoided, if Guyon's technique be closely followed. The instrument found best for the purpose is Albarran's modification of Guyon's instillator. It consists of a syringe, a little larger than the ordinary hypodermic syringe, with a rod passing through the piston, by means of which the packing can be rendered tight or loose at will. A tightly fitting metal funnel serves to connect the syringe with a rubber capillary catheter shaped like a bougie a boule, and soft enough to be easily in- serted. Each complete turn of the handle deposits a drop of the solution in the posterior urethra. If the deposits are made by quarter turns, and consequently by quarter drops, with an interval of ten to twenty seconds between each application, the pain will be minimized, larger quantities can be introduced, and a quicker effect obtained (Guy on). V. TECHNiaUE OF POSTERIOR OR INTRA- VESICAL IRRIGATIONS. Keeping in mind how feeble a bundle of muscular fibres constitute the sphincter vesicae, it is evident that anj^ appreciable quantity of fluid carried into the posterior urethra through the strong compressor must enter the bladder. Hence irrigation of the posterior urethra distinctly implies irrigation of the bladder at the same time. For convenience, therefore, irriga- tions of the posterior urethra are called intravesical irriga- tions. Preparation of the Patient. — The patient is prepared and sits, stands, or lies down, as may be necessary, under the rules de- tailed on page 12. The Irrigation. — 1. Perform thoroughly all the steps de- scribed under Anterior Irrigation (page 16), using only half the quantities of fluid there mentioned. 2. Hold the penis firmly, while gently sinking the nozzle into the meatus, until it is entirely occluded thereby. At the same time slowly increase the force of the flow, by drawing back the flange of the stopcock. 3. As the urethra is felt distending under the left flnger tips, 30 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. order tlie patient to breathe deeph' and slowly, and to make efforts at urination. 4. Ordinarily wlien the third step of this operation is being performed, a sensation of purling of the liquid, as it enters the bladder, will be communicated to the left fingers. 5. After one-half or three-quarters of a minute the inflow will become less accentuated and slower, as the bladder is being filled. Fig. 11.— HoldlBg Basin and Stopcock and Handing Urinal to Patient. Then slowly push forward the flange of the stopcock, to dimin- ish the force of the flow, until it is stopped. By close observ- ance of this technique, the bladder can be entirely filled without producing pain or even an urgent desire to urinate. 6. Rest the penis on the margin of the basin, leaving the left hand free. 7. Place the stopcock in the basin; pass the right thumb through its large ring ; pass the right fingers to the outside of the basin to hold it firmly with the stopcock. 8. Extend the left hand to the shelf on which the glass urinals are kept (one may also conveniently stand under the patient's chair), take one and hand it to the patient. 9. Order the patient to take his penis with his left hand and to direct it toward the urinal, which he holds in his right. 10. Take the basin and stopcock from the patient's lap. POSTERIOR OR INTRAVESICAL IRRIGATIONS. 31 11. Order tlie patient to void his bladder into the urinal; some can do this sitting, others must rise for the purpose. 12. While the patient is emptying his bladder, pour the contents of the basin into the sink and wash out the basin with warm water, if the patient is to be immediately irrigated again. If not, wash the basin with boiling water, and place it with the used basins, to be thoroughly- cleansed after office hours. 13. Without removing the used nozzle from the stopcock, hold both under running, boiling water for a few moments. Then remove the nozzle and place it in a dish kept for used nozzles and containing mercuric bichloride 1:1,000. After office hours boil the used nozzles in water and caustic soda; rinse them in clean water and place them in a dish containing mercuric bichloride 1 : 1,000. All the steps of intravesical irrigation, like those of anterior irrigation, can be effectively, thoroughly, and painlessly per- formed without soiling any x^art of the patient's person or body, or of the office. Amount Bequired for Filling the Bladder. — The average male bladder can comfortably hold about 350 c.c. (nearly fl 5 xiss.); variations between 250 and 500 c.c. are, however, within the limits of health. Bepetition of an Intravesical Irrigation. — Ordinarily' after one irrigation the glass urinal shows its contents to be as clear as when the fluid was sent into the bladder. When this is not the case, the irrigation may at once be repeated. ImiJedhnents to Irrigation. — In some cases, when for anj- reason the preparations for irrigation are somewhat prolonged, or when the patient is nervous, there may be a somewhat free outpouring of urine from the kidneys, after the patient has emptied his bladder. A small quantity of urine in this viscus may set up such a spasm of the compressor that when an intra- vesical irrigation is attempted it cannot be overcome by the pressure of the irrigating fluid. Such a patient should be ordered to again empty his bladder ; the irrigation will then be quite easily performed. When potassic permanganate is used in a case in which some urine is withheld, it will be returned from the bladder either turbid or of a light straw or brownish hue. A second irrigation will then produce as clear a fluid as was used. 32 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. Fig. 13.— Office Arrangement. A, Author's urethral and intravesical irrigator ; upper margin of board attai-hed to wall nine feet from floor ; B, stand eighteen inches high ; C, marble wash-stand (constructed by Mr. John H. Graham of New York); D, hot-water pedal ; E, cold- water pedal ; F, outflow trap ; G, mortar for rapidly making potassic permanganate solu- tions from tablets : H, glass urinal ; i, bottle containing potassic permanganate tablets, 3 grains each; J, glass graduate 1,500 c.c. to measure urine; F, tray holding clean urine POSTERIOR OR INTRAVESICAL IRRIGATIONS. 33 Some patients, in making violent respiratory efforts, coupled with endeavors to urinate during irrigation, will force the com pressor into a firm tonic spasm. It is well, in such cases, to ask the patient to desist from his efforts, and, while reducing the hydrostatic pressure, to divert his attention from the matter in hand. This is best accomplished by some witticism ; not, how- ever, one of which the patient is the object. The slightest ten- dency of the patient to laugh is instantly accompanied by a relaxation of the compressor and a consequent inflow of the irrigation fluid into the bladder. Office Arrangement. — In a large genito-urinary practice much time can be gained and convenience secured by an office arrange- ment as shown in Fig. 12, page 32. It will be observed that the patient's chair stands on a platform. This is eighteen inches high, which is equivalent to irrigating the patient when the chair is on the floor and the irrigator raised only seven and one-half instead of nine feet from the floor. This reduction of pressure will make no difference to the physician experienced in irrigations. Moreover, the platform will prove very con- venient, when many irrigations must be done during the day, as it saves the physician much stooping. Physicians who are obliged to irrigate only a few patients daily do not need the somewhat expensive office arrangements here shown. They can do fully as effective and satisfactory work without. Further points concerning irrigations will be discussed under the conditions to which they especially apply. tubes ; K, small glass graduate to make solutions of silver nitrate, cupric sulphate, etc. ; K^, glass dishes holding sterilized nozzles in bichloride 1 : 1,000 ; i, glass tray containing used nozzles ; iV/, tray to hold used instruments ; ISf,X.X,X, solutions of silver nitrate , 0. minim graduate ; P, bottle containing powdered boric acid ; other bottles on this shelf contain car- bolic acid, nitric acid, etc. ;- q, bottle holding three gallons boric acid, four-per-cent. solu- tion ; R, flve-gallon bottle containing mercuric bichloride 1 : l,iJain which strapping inevitably entails. The technique of strapping a testicle as I employ it is a modification of Fricke's method : The patient lies on a table, his legs extended flat upon it and somewhat abducted; he or an assistant slightly supports the scrotum while the dressings are being prepared. Two strips are cut from a three or four inch gauze bandage, according to COMPLICATIONS AND SEQUELS OF GONORRHOEA. 61 the size of the swelling, and long enough to cover the scrotum from the perineum to the pubis. These strips are smeared with an ointment, slightly modified from that proposed by Casper, of Berlin, and composed of ichthyol 2.5, guaiacol 5.0, ung. hydrarg. [ J-\ 10, vaselin and lanolin, p. se. ad \ 30.0. The use of these strips \ i 1 renders shaving the scrotum un- t\ necessary. The neck of the scrotum of -^ :;v^v^ the diseased side is then grasped between the left thumb and mid- f.r- die or index finger, and with in- /*: B creasing pressure the testicle is forced to the bottom of the scro- tum. The compressing fingers are steadily, forcibly contracted until the region about the funis ,,,, is reduced to its smallest possible calibre. Without releasing the °. Fig. 15.— The First Strip of Adhesive grasp oi the fingers a hali-mch piaster. strip of strong adhesive plaster is firmly wrapped immediately below the fingers so tightly as to convey the impression that the funis might be strangulated thereby. This is the most painful part of the whole procedure. If not thoroughly done, the entire purpose of the strapping will be thwarted : the patient will experience no relief, the case will be aggravated, the scrotum injured and its contents exposed to abscess formation. Cases are not rare in which physicians, guided more by sympathy for their patients than by steadfast- ness of purpose, have strapped the swelling so that the testicle was forced up toward or almost into the inguinal ring and the epididymis away from the testicle. After the first strip of adhesive plaster (which I think may be properly called the " choker ") is firmly applied, the superficial veins of the scrotum will for a moment enlarge and stand as blue, more or less tortuous strings beneath the skin. One of the gauze strips smeared with the Casper ointment is firmly and smoothly laid from the posterior neck of the swelling to its an- terior aspect, and the second strip is similarly applied at right 62 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. angles to the first. A second " choker " about three to four inches wide is now firmly wrapped around the root of the tumor covering the first " choker " and holding the four ends of the gauze strips in place. Then an adhesive strip half an inch wide and of sufficient length, is firmly attached to the centre of the posterior (perineal) aspect of the choker, tightly drawn over the testicle and attached to the centre of the anterior part of the choker. A second strip is similarly placed from the choker at the external surface of the scrotum to the mesian surface, at right angles to the first strip. A third strip is attached to the choker, immediately adjoining and slightly overlapping the second strip's entire course. Successive strips are placed in the same manner until the entire tes- ticle is firmly encased. It will be found necessary to heat thoroughly each strip and to apply it as hot as it can be borne by the patient, to secure its ad- hesion to the grease that oozes through the gauze. It will also be convenient to apply a new choker after each three or four longitudinal strips are applied. All attention should be di- rected to applying the strips smoothly, and with as firm and even pressure as possible. After the last longitudinal strip is applied, the whole dress- ing should be reinforced by a final choker about six inches long. Two or three turns of the choker are made about the neck of the tumor, the remaining strip is made to envelop the other longitudinal strips by interrupted spiral turns, returning to the neck. The projecting ends of the adhesive plaster about the neck of the scrotum are then cut off closely above the choker; the projecting ends of the gauze are also trimmed but allowed to extend about one-eighth of an inch above the choker, to protect the skin from erosions that otherwise w^ould be likely to result. Fig. 16.— Testicle Strapped. COMPLICATIONS AND SEQUELS OF GONORRHCEA. 63 Before tlie patient rises, a large suspensory bandage ^^'itli back-straps is firmly applied, after enveloping the wliole testicle in a layer of cotton. Absorbent cotton having lost its resiliency in being prepared, should not be used for this purpose. The whole procedure, from placing the patient on the table to buckling the suspensory bandage, should not occupy over five minutes; the increased pain caused by applying the first choker should not, with ordinary skill, extend over ten seconds, the other manipulations should be comparatively painless. After the testicle is drawn as closely as possible to the pubis by the suspensory bandage, the patient is told to arise. If all parts of the work have been properly performed, it will be found that the patient can stand upright; that he can, when holding his heels and toes together, take up a small object lying immediately in front of his toes ; that he can stand, walk, turn rapidly, sit down, get up, cross his legs absolutely without pain and with no sensation about his genitals further than the feeling of some bulk between his legs, which, however, is but slightly or not at all uncomfortable. - The exhilaration produced by the sudden cessation of local and reflex pains and the stopping of all constitutional effects thereof make the patient exceedingly willing to return in forty- eight hours for a second strapping. Usually the longitudinal straps will then be found loosely encasing the scrotum. A grooved director passed under the choker into the space between the scrotum and the plaster strips serves as a guide for strong scissors to cut the choker at the centre of its anterior asfject. The hair to which it is attached should be cut through, care be- ing taken not to snip the skin. When all the hairs are cut, pass the scissors through the anterior aspect of the entire casing, which can then be easily removed. The swelling will then be found reduced to one-third or one-fifth of its former size. If any excoriations have resulted from defects in the dressing, they should be dusted with nosophen and cotton packed into a snugly fitting suspensory bandage applied over it. If no excoriations have resulted, and especially if some tenderness still remains, the strapping should be reapplied and repeated every forty-eight hours. Some cases may require as many as four such strap- pings to reduce the inflammation to a subacute state, which then may be treated by applications of the Casper ointment on 64 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. gauze strips twice dailj^ These strips should then be covered bj^ a thick layer of cotton and impermeable tissue over the cot- ton, all held firmly in place by a well-fitting suspensory bandage. In some cases, having reached this stage, resorption of the swelling seems to be hastened hj galvanism employed every second day. At the first seance the moistened negative elec- trode may be applied to the scrotum and the positive to the thigh. The seance may last five minutes and two milliamperes be employed. At the second seance the poles should be changed, the time lengthened to six minutes and the current increased to three milliamperes. At each subsequent seance the poles should be changed, the application extended one minute and the amperage increased one milliampere. The use of galvanism should not be carried to a painful degree and the site of applica- tion of the positive pole, while kept firmly applied, should be continually moved to prevent excoriations. Sometimes the patient's timidity or the physician's lack of fortiter in re (never incompatible with suaviter in modo) prevents strapping the testicle in the class of cases cited. Then the indications for rest, elevation, warmth, and moisture can be approximately attained by the use of specially constructed sus- pensories. These were first suggested by Horand, and sub- sequently modified by Langlebert, von Zeissl, Casper, Falk- son, Letzel, White and Martin, and others. They differ from suspensory bandages mentioned before, in being much larger, stronger, and adjustable not only in the bodj^ and perineal straps, but also in having adjustable scrotal bags. Their cost is, how- ever, high. In cases in which the bandages mentioned before will not suffice, they certainly are serviceable. They are em- ployed as was directed for their use after strapping. A substitute for strapping and suspensories is devised by Karl Gerson,' of Berlin, who suggested the use of scrotal ele- vating strips.'' These are strong elastic adhesive strips an inch wide, with one margin softly fringed. The end of the bandage has two small linen tapes. For use the scrotum is grasped be- ' Gerson : "Elastische Pflaster-Suspensionsbinden." Dermatologische Centralblatter, Heft i v., 1897; Berliner klinische WocJhenschrift, No, 3, 1898. -The words "scrotal elevating strips "are an intentional mistranslation of the author's "Suspensionsbinden," which in a literal version would cause confusion with the accepted English designation of suspensory bandages. COMPLICATIONS AND SEQUELS OF GONORRHGEA. 65 ]oy, and by compressing the sac, its contents are forced upward to as near the inguinal ring as possible. The bandage, which readily adheres to the scrotum, is tightly wound about it, Avith the fringed edge upward, to prevent abrasion. When the whole is wrapped about the emptied scrotum, it is firmly tied by the linen tapes. This leaves a part of the emptied scrotum project- ing below the bandage. The ease with which this manner of treating epididymitis can be employed, and the facility with which the patient can reduce its pressure, should it become too strong, are decided arguments in its favor. And indeed, in many cases (perhaps fifty per cent.) it acts quite satisfactorily. In some, however, the pain becomes so severe as to compel its removal, and in others it produces no appreciable effect. In exceptionally severe cases of epididymitis or orcho-epi- didj'mitis, or when the patient cannot bear even a touch of the inflamed scrotal contents, and when the treatment described on page 69 will not afford relief, tobacco poultices will assuage the suffering. These are made of equal parts of common smok- ing tobacco and ground flaxseed, boiled together and applied as hot as can be comfortably borne. As soon as such a poultice begins to cool, a fresh one should be applied. At night they may be substituted by the Casper ointment. While the inflammation is at its height, some authors still recommend crushed ice directly applied or used in an ice-bag. N^o relief is obtained by this treatment, which seems to increase the danger of abscess. It may be a mere coincidence that in every case I saw of loss of the testicle from gonorrhoeal invasion of the scrotal contents, ice had been employed during epididy- mitis. It is ordinarily held that from the very onset of epididymitis treatment of the urethra should be stopped. This idea is prob- ably due to the usual diminution or entire arrest of the discharge when epididymitis begins. But in practice it is found that when the physician desists from treating the urethra during epididymitis, its subsidence is followed by a return of the dis- charge, usually far in excess of the original condition ; while if irrigations are persistently continued despite the epididymitis, recurrence of the severe symptoms of gonorrhoea does not take place. Epispadias and Hypospadias, when not so deforming the penis 5 66 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. as to make coitus impossible, are jjrone to interfere materially witli successful irrigations. It is remarkable tliat men with very markedly deformed penes seek to gratify tlie genesic im- pulse. Tlieir large exposure of mucous membrane makes tbem liable to more ready infection, and in these deformities, the in- genuity of the physician is often taxed for the successful em- ployment of remedial measures. Owing to sacculations and deviations produced by these deformities, gonorrhoea, despite the best directed treatment, is prone to go over into chronicity. The case then is not likely to be finally cured before the urethra is restored by plastic operation. Epithelium in the Ueine.— The only epithelium found in normal male urine comes from the bladder. Louis Heitzmann, ' following the principles laid down by the lamented Carl Heitz- mann, asserts that in addition to other microscopic evidences, the kind of epithelium found in the urine points out the region of the pathological process going on in the genito-urinary tract. Fantastic as this is asserted to be, I have almost daily evidence of the parallelism between microscopical and clinical diagnosis and always find it a decided aid. The details of the character- istics of the various epithelia, their application to diagnosis, would lead beyond the scojDe of this little book. Moreover, they are described by Heitzmann so fully as, in the light of our present knowledge, cannot be improved. I would like to add an important fact to his description of the epithelia found in the urine of stricture cases, even when a path- ological coarctation presents no other evidence of its presence. The urethral epithelia, then, have among them some thinned scales, with smoothed or faint nuclei and some without nuclei. These variations prove that stricture is forming and persists as long as they are present. The case must then be treated by di- latations and irrigations, as detailed under chronic gonorrhoea. Eye, Gonorrhoeal inflammation of — see Ophthalmia, gonor- rhoeal, Fia Waets— see Condylomata. Fistula, urethral. Whether congenital or the result of peri- urethral abscess or of urethral rupture from stricture, a urethral 1 Heitzmann: Urinary Analysis and Diagnosis, William Wood & Co., 1899. COMPLICATIONS AND SEQUELJE OF GONORRHCEA. 67 fistula is not likely to render irrigation especially difficult, un- less tlie fistula is very large. If situated in the anterior ure- ttra, it can ordinarily be covered by the finger during irriga- tion and evacuation of the bladder, when intravesical washings are employed. In that case it will be well to have the patient let some of the irrigation fluid pass through the fistula, so that its lining may receive antigonorrhoeal treatment at the same time. Perineal fistulse do not usually offer much hindrance to ir- rigations. If, however, they do, on account of large dimensions, the patient can be instructed to hold them closed during irri- gation. "Floaters," in the urine. Macroscopically visible sub- stances carried from the urethra by the urine are among the numerous genito-urinary subjects that still merit much detailed study. Many eminent authors have made painstaking researches regarding them ; yet, until more precise devices and methods are employed, " floaters " in the urine will remain but partially un- derstood as regards their origin and special pathological signi- ficance. Their importance is well brought into relief by Guiard : ' " It is safe to say with Fiirbringer that the abnormal products contained in the first portion of the urine represent a more constant symptom of goutte militaire (morning drop) than the drop itself." These objects carried in the urine are usually spoken of as filaments or clap threads (Tripperfaden) without description of any distinctions between their forms. With a view to a clinical outline of their study I submit the generic term "floaters" for all these objects, fully conscious of its incompleteness, as it does not describe those, composed essentially of pus, which sink to the bottom of the glass con- taining fresh urine. Eoughly it may be said that these floaters differ in size, transparency, consistence, and conduct, according to the sever- ity of the disease, its chronicity, and the progress of treatment. These relations, however, are by no means fij-mly established. In studying these floaters, it must be remembered that there are floaters which have no relation whatever to disease. These ' Guiard : Les Urethrites ckroniques, Eueff, Paris, 1898. 68 THE IREIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. vB Mm have been called normal mucous filaments by Guy on.' The first urine passed after a night's rest, during which the secre- tions of the mucosa and its glands have not been washed away, carries with it a long, wavy filament. At spots it is rolled upon itself. It is transparent, occasionally encloses minute air bub- bles, whitish spots and streaks. It remains coherent on shak- ing the tube and sinks very \r.- \ slowly below the surface of the urine. Its coherence is still more manifest when grasped by forceps or fished by means of a needle; when withdrawn from the urine it stretches into great length as it is held sus- pended. In consistence this normal filament suggests the discharge that comes from the prostate, in that it can be dragged about upon a cover glass, maintain- ing its tenuousness for a long time. When allowed to rest, it shows a tendency to form a colorless, amorphous heap. As it dries very slowly, its preparation for the microscope is quite tedious. Endeavors to spread it with the platinum loop result in uneven masses interspersed with hard lumps. It is therefore best to press it between cover glasses while moving them about upon each other until an even smear is ob- tained. Even then, on separating the cover glasses, to let the specimen dry before flaming, its coherence is so great that it is likely again to run together into lumps. The specimen properly spread, stains best with alkaline methylene blue. For fine distinction this solution should not Fig. 17.— Normal Mucous Filament, from a healtby man, wlio never had urethritis. First morning urination. The mucous fila- ment holds leucocytes and epithelia in se- ries. X 300 diameters. (From Guyon: " Voles Urinatres," vol. il., page 363.) 1 Guyon : Legons cliniques sur les Maladies des Voies urinaires, tome premier, Baillifere, Paris, 1894. COMPLICATIONS AND SEQUELS OF GONORRHCEA. 69 be over two per cent, and left in contact witli the specimen for five minutes before washing it off. On examination this specimen is found to contain : Mucous threads and bands with a tendency to curl; their meshes hold, isolated, in small groups or in rows : Urethral flat epithlia with small nuclei ; Polyhedric or rounded epithelia with large nuclei ; Leucocytes, often in abundance. The normal filament never has micro-organisms of any kind, not even the bacteria of the normal urethra. These bacteria are found in secretion taken from the meatus, lying amidst the large epithelial cells. Not infrequently a healthy man learns that urethral filaments are evidence of disease. Unless the physician informs himself thoroughly of the appearance and other characteristics of the normal filament, and uses his knowledge to reassure his patient, the latter can develop most obstinate neurasthenia. If not con- vinced of the innocuousness of these normal filaments, he may get into the hands of quacks, who by maltreating the healthy urethra with injections or sounds, will set up an irritative ure- thritis with stricture or other complications in consequence. The dimensions and shapes of jpatliological floaters in the urine differ according to the severity of the disease, its duration, and the results of treatment. These differences are subject to most marked variations. With a view to establishing a basis of re- cording cases, and consequently their more detailed study, I submit the following classification : Sheeds, coarse, large, medium, small, fine. Filaments, coarse, long, medium, short, fine. Flakes, coarse and fine. Granules, coarse and fine. In offering the above, concise descriptive terminology is the sole object. It would be remiss to omit from this list the comma filaments, which, according to Fiirbringer and Finger, are moulded to the comma shape within the prostatic duct in a diseased condition. When found, they usually are emitted with the last drops of urine. The conduct and coherence of pathological floaters bear no re- / 70 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. lation to their dimensions, nor have they as yet an established position in diagnosis. Guy on {op. cit.), however, advises re- taining the designations of pmmlent, muco-purulent, and mucous floaters as clinical definitions. Purulent floaters are short, multiple, opaque, friable, are easily broken up by shaking the urine, which they render turbid. They sink quickly (drop) to the bottom of the glass containing the urine. 31uco-purulent floaters 3iXe oii&R single, long, knotted; some- times one of their ends is rolled ui)on itself forming a sort of head. They look grayish-white and have opaque dots or stripes, held together by a transparent substance. They float toward the top or middle of the urine, and cohere almost as much as the normal filament when withdrawn for examination. Ilucous floaters appear as do those of a muco-purulent char- acter. They differ, however, by remaining at or near the top of the urine column and in being almost entirely transparent. The conduct of these floaters conveys the thought that there exists a variance in their specific gravity — mucus being lighter than urine and the floaters proportionately heavier — in accord with the amount of pus they contain. Their histological and bacteriological elements also contribute to the floating or sink- ing of the floaters. For their study the reader is referred to works on these subjects. One that embodies the most recent views is by Louis Heitzmann,^ whose practical value for pur- poses of diagnosis is bey ocd calculation. The examination of floaters, both macroscopic and micro- scopic, must be made from urine passed in the physician's ofiice. For this purpose the urine brought in a bottle is worthless, as all floaters dissolve in a few hours. Under appropriate treatment, the shreds soon become broken up into flakes, the long fllaments into shorter ones, and as the disease nears its end, all floaters become converted into granules. These changes will be more fully discussed under the treatment of chronic gonorrhoea. Folliculitis — see Abscess, follicular and peri-urethral. Foreign bodies in the urethra may complicate and aggravate gonorrhoea. They may be due to bodies inserted into the ure- ^Heitzmann: Urinary Analysis and Diagnosis by Microscopic and Cliemical Examination, William Wood & Co., 1899. COMPLICATIONS AND SEQUELS OF GONORRHCEA. Tl tlira, as has been done in attempts to alleviate itching or tick- ling, for masturbatorj purpose, or by instruments breaking off when introduced for therapeutic objects. Of the articles in- serted to allay itching or cause ejaculation, or broken off dur- ing surgical procedures, Englisch ' mentions pins, bits of wood, twigs, grasses, roots, sponges, pipe stems, forks, catheters, cau- tery-carriers, pieces of forceps, etc. Concretions formed above, or fragments left in the bladder after lithotripsy may be carried to the urethra and be pinned fast there by their sharp points penetrating the mucosa. Foreign bodies (stones) may also form within the normal urethra ; they then are usually located in the fossa, rarely ^^ithin the bulb. They may also be deposited in congenital or acquired diverticulse or fistulse. They then usually are uric-acid stones. Foreign bodies inserted or formed in the urethra may be carried upward by its motions and those of the bladder. The lengthenings and shortenings of the penis under varying emo- tions may mechanically explain this inward progress. This, of course, is interfered with when the foreign body is sharp or rough, causing its ingressiou into a consequent adhesion to the urethral wall. A foreign body causes pain and the other inflammatory symptoms or an increase thereof, when these existed before its introduction. Efforts at urination, if the body is large, result in forcible distention of the urethra behind it, while the urine dribbles or drops from the meatus. If the body is very large or not promptly removed, reteiition may result, as may also abscess or extensive pockets of the urethra. Palpation reveals the location of the foreign body. Swelling about it maj' deceive the fingers regarding its size and character. If unduly left in the urethra, the urinary salts may form con- cretions about the foreign body. The sudden establishment of localized pain within the urethra, besides the other disturbances, direct attention to the possi- bility of a foreign body having been introduced, although the fact may be strenuously denied by the patient. This is the only circumstance in which urethroscopy is justifiable in acute ' Englisch : "Die chirurgischheii Krankheiten der mannlichen Harnrohre." Zuelzer and Oberlaender's Klinisches Handbuch der Harn- xind Sexualor- gane, vol. iii., Vogel, Leipzig, 1894. 72 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OP GONORRHCEA. gonorrhoea. The paiu may be so severe as to require cocaine or eucaine before a tube can be introduced to the site of the foreign body. Great care must be exercised to prevent the substance ■from being thrust farther into the urethra by the obturator. If it can be grasped through the tube by the Guyon urethral for- ceps, a dull curette, Guyon's hood or an instrument improvised for the x>urpose to cover the special needs of the case, it may be withdrawn with or through the tube, if their relative sizes per- mit. Whenever a rough or sharp body can be drawn tlirougli the tube, this method is certainly preferable, as thus the ure- thra is protected from additional injuries. When the body is too large to pass through the urethroscopic tube, it must be removed by the most suitable of the many instruments devised for the purpose. When it is smooth and located in the pendu- lous portion, it may be pressed out of the urethra by careful manipulation. If, as occasionally happens, a man inserts a hair- pin or a hat-pin into the urethra, their points will bo found presenting forward. Efforts at removal are likely to cause ex- tensive gathering and penetration of the mucous folds. It will be well, to prevent such additional injury of whose extent the surgeon cannot judge at the time, to cause the points of such an instrument to penetrate the urethra at the centre of its floor and to turn the object by the projecting part so that its head presents forward. Then holding the projection firmly with strong forceps, the penis is stripped backward.to cause the head to project from the meatus, so that it can be grasped by another forceps and withdrawn. It is better to thus risk a urethral fistula than to produce internal injuries of the urinary channel. The surgeon's ingeniousness is often severely taxed for the removal of stones formed in the urethra. They may be con- tained there for a long time without producing any special dis- turbance. Slow or sudden accretions may, however, establish increasing inflammatory symptoms, with local swelling, urinary infiltration, formation of abscesses or diverticulae, incontinence, chills, fever, pain at the site of the concretion or radiating pains through the penis. If not removed, nature may throw out the stone through extensive ulceration, producing large urinary fistulse which are difficult and sometimes impossible to repair. If the stone or stones so formed are left in the urethra, the pa- tient's life is in danger from sepsis. COMPLICATIONS AXD SEQUELS OF GONORRHCEA. YS If the stone cannot be removed through the urethra, external urethrotomy over it must be performed as soon as possible. Frenum, short or rigid. While extreme degrees of this de- formity may render erection painful and intromission impossi- ble, it does not safeguard the patient from acquiring gonorrhoea. It offers no material interference with irrigations ; still, while the patient is under treatment, it may be well to slit the frenum to correct the deformity. In case of a timorous person, the little operation may be preceded by freezing the frenum with ethyl chloride. The glans is turned back, a narrow straight bistoury or tenotome passed through its base and the frenum cut from within outward. The cut may be dressed with iodoform or nosophen gauze and a light bandage applied to keep the fore- skin retracted and prevent coaptation of the cut extremities. FuNicuLiTis, — Inflammation of the spermatic cord may manifest itself while the vas carries infection from posterior urethritis to the epididymis (see Epididymitis) or may in- dependently complicate gonorrhoea especially by rheumatic phlebitis. It may appear in the form of serous funiculitis (acute diffuse hydrocele of the cord) or of phlegmonous funicu- litis. The former shows itself as a roundish, sausage-like swell- ing along the cord, which is translucent and pits on pressure. Phlegmonous funiculitis manifests itself in the same shape, but it is not translucent and is very tender to pressure. From the acuity of the symptoms it may simulate strangulated hernia. It is the more dangerous form, as it may extend into the peri- toneum. Acute funiculitis in either form is treated as laid down under the lighter form of epididymitis. If the manifestations are so severe that the testicle is threatened, the funis should be incised and drained. Geneeal Gonoeehceal Infection. — Some of the complica- tions mentioned here can have their explanation only in con- veyance of gonococci through the circulation. P. Colombini * reports a case which signally illustrates this : A mechanic, aged 28, had acute gonorrhoea ; in two weeks he ' Colombini : "Bakteriologische and experimentelle Untersuchungen liber einen merkwiirdigen Fall von allgemeiner gonorrhoischer Infection." Cen- tralblatt ftir Bakteriologie, vol. xxiv., No. 25. 14: THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. developed an inguinal bubo, a week later an abscess of the epi- didymis, and eight days after that, suppuration of the parotid. The pus from all the abscesses, as well as the blood, was found to contain gonococci, from which pure cultures were obtained. Colombini found a boy of twenty who had never had gonor- rhoea and who willingly submitted to having his urethra infected with one of these cultures. A florid gonorrhoea resulted, which required many months of assiduous and patient treatment for its cure. Thiimmel,' of Leipsic, in commenting on this case, says that the culture experiments should have sufficed Colombini for cer- tainty that the diplococci found in the various abscesses and blood were true gonococci, and that humane sentiment should have forbidden imperilling the health and life of a young man, by so infecting him. Thiimmel adds that if it seems necessary to make any such tests, the experimenter should use his own urethra for the purpose — a sentiment with which all will agree. In a most explicit paper, which Berg^ read before the Sec- tion of Practice, New York Academy of Medicine, he recites the details of a case whose death, twenty-nine days after the first symp<'oms of a gonorrhoea, was clearly due to systemic gonorrhoeal infection of the heart and kidneys without any lesion of the bladder or uretlira. The author's deductions and literary researches are so instructive that justice to the reader requires their entire rej)roduction. "A large number of cases of ulcerative endocarditis com- plicating gonorrhoea have been reported. In the larger number of cases the heart lesion was preceded by gonorrhoeal arthritis ; thus Eicord and Hunter, according to See,^ believed that gonor- rhoeal rheumatism was sometimes complicated by rheumatic endocarditis. Desnos, however, in 1877 performed the first autopsy upon a case of endocarditis without rheumatism, com- plicating gonorrhoea ; and other cases have since been reported in which arthritis was not present. Such a case was reported 1 Thiimmel : Centralblatt ftir die Krankheiten der Harn- und Sexaalor- gane, July 15tli, 1899. '■^ Henry V. Berg: "Pyelo-nepliritis and Ulcerative Endocarditis as a Complication of Gonorrhoea — the Gonococcus found in Pure Culture upon the Diseased Heart Valve." Medical Record, April 29th, 1899. 3«Le Gonocoque," 1896. COMPLICATIONS AND SEQUELS OF GONORRHCEA. 75 by Morel/ That inflammatory complications occur in gonor. rhoea lias always been recognized. Many of tliem are due to direct extension of tlie process from tlie uretlira or vagina into the deeper tissues connected witb these tracts. Others are the result .of direct inoculation of distant structures with gonorrhoeal pus, as, for instance, gonorrhoeal oj)hthalmia. Neither of these methods of infection would account for the production of a gon- orrhoeal endocarditis. Effects upon the nervous system and the manifestations of general sepsis could be explained by sup- posing that a toxin produced by the gonococcus had been ab- sorbed iDto the lymphatic and circulatory system, but the find- ing of the gonococcus in pure culture in the vegetations on the valves of a case of ulcerative endocarditis complicating gonor- rhoea would seem to prove that the gonococcus itself has been carried to the site of the lesion, and has there produced the ulcerative manifestation. " For some time it was believed, when such an infection oc- curred, that it was the result of a mixed infection. As is well known, the urethra is the habitat, even in the normal state, of numerous varieties of germs, so that, when the mucous mem- brane of the urethra has been thrown into a pathological condi- tion through the action of the gonococcus, the pyogenic germs would find a read}^ means of entering the system and producing distant lesions of a septic character. Thus Weichselbaum^ re- ports a complete autopsy, with bacteriological investigation of a case, which certainly proved that ulcerative endocarditis can complicate gonorrhoea as a result of mixed infection, he having found gonococci and streptococci upon the valves. A similar case was published by Ely.^ "His* and Wilms, ^ although they both published cases of ulcerative . endocarditis complicating gonorrhoea, in which the cocci found on the diseased valves had morphological charac- teristics of the gonococcus, and behaved in the characteristic 1 Th^se de Paris, No. 209, 1878. - Centralblatt fiir Bacteriologie, 1887, 2, and " Zur Aetiologie der acuten Endocarditis," Ziegler's Beitrage, 1888, iv., 3. 3 Medical Record, March 16tli, 1889. ^Berliner klinische Wochenschrift, 1892, No. 40. ^Miinclmer med. Wochenschrift, 1893, No. 40. 76 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF OONORRHCEA. manner toward Gram staining, yet considered tliat these cases were the result of mixed infection. " But in the last few years, particularly since 1894, many ex- cellent observers have reported cases in which there was found at the site of lesions complicating gonorrhoea only the gono- coccus. Thus Bordone-Uffreduzzi ' obtained the gonococcus in. pure culture by inoculations made with the fluid from a joint affected by gonorrhoeal arthritis. A gonorrhoea was produced in a human subject by inoculation with the second generation of pure cultures thus derived from the arthritic joint. Council- man" reports a case in w^hich he obtained pure cultures, in a case of gonorrhoeal septicaemia, from the joints, the pleura, the pericardium, and the valves of the heart. Councilman also quotes a case of Gluzinskyvery similar to the case wdiich my communication recounts, and Winterberg^ reports a similar case. One of the earliest cases of this kind was that of Ley den,* in which, as in my case, the gonococcus was found after death. Cultures from the blood during life, and from the left ventricle after death, remained sterile. " One of the most valuable cases was reported by Thayer and Blumer.^ In this case, in addition to pure cultures of gonococcus found in the valves, the blood cultures taken dur- ing life showed colonies of gonococcus which would seem to prove that the gonococci passed by means of the blood cur- rent to distant portions of the body, and there gave rise to infections. " I think that at present we may believe that septic infections, such as occurred in my case, can be the result of the unaided action of the gonococcus distributed through the body by the blood channels." The first conclusive proof of the gonococcus causing peri- tonitis was presented by Cushing,^ whose exhaustive investiga- * Deutsche med. Wochenschrift, 1894, xx., p. 484. ''Trans, of the Association of American Physicians, 1893, viii., p. 165. ^Festsch, zum 25jahr. Jubil. d. Vereins Deutscli. Aerzte zu San Fran- cisco, 1894, p. 40. * Berliner klinische Wochenschrift, January 1st, 1894, xxxii. , p. 22. ^Arch. de Med. experimental., November 1st, 1895, vii., No. 6, p. 701. ^Harvey W. Gushing: "Acute Diffuse Gonococcus Peritonitis." Bulletin of the Johns Hopkins Hospital, May, 1899. COMPLICATIONS AND SEQUELS OF GONORRHCEA. Y7 tions add evidence to the fact that gonorhoeal processes are not limited to mucous surfaces. Besides the joints, heart, and kidney, the fourth ventricle of the brain has been found the seat of gonococcal invasion through the circulation. For detailed study of the gonococcus the reader is referred ' to the writings of the authors mentioned, and more particularly those of Henry Heimann.* Gleet. — This term is used to designate any kind of per- sistent discharge from the urethra. As it embraces no patho- logical or otherwise descriptive import, it should cease to have a place in medical nomenclature. Gout. — It is well known that gout can evince itself in urethritis, especially of the posterior urethra, in orchitis and epididymitis, although these manifestations are rare. When a gouty patient past middle age and given to high living, con- ' tracts gonorrhoea, the possibility of the constitutional complica- tion should not be left out of mind. The urine, besides con- taining pus, is very acid and heavy with uric acid and urates. Suspicion is attracted to tJie possibility of a gouty diathesis by the ijresence of dry, scaly eczema, tophi, and ground-down teeth. In such cases irrigations must be followed out as in uncompli- cated gonorrhoea, while the patient is energetically treated by his family physician for the gouty condition. Hemorrhage. — While bleedings from the meatus of other than urethral origin would be beyond the scope of this book, their possibility must not be left out of consideration when they occur with a gonorrhoea. The bleedings from posterior urethritis and urethrocystitis are discussed under their respective heads. Bleeding from the anterior urethra may be provoked by vio- lently employed strong injections, sharp syringes, catheteriza- tion through an acutely inflamed, macerated urethral mucosa, and the passage of small, rough calculi. Sometimes urethral bleeding is provoked by coitus while the patient has gonorrhoea, incredible as such an act may ap- 1 Heimann : "A Clinical and Bacteriological Study of the Gonococcus Neis- ser," Medical Record, June 22d, 1895. " A Further Study of the Biology of the Gonococcus," Medical Record, December 19th, 1896. "Further Studies, Third Series, on the Gonococcus Neisser,',' Medical Record, January 15th, 1898. 78 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. pear. S. Kof mann, ' of Odessa, reports such a case. A liealtliy- looking individual, aged nineteen, witli anxious features, told Kofmann that for over an hour blood had been pouring from his urethra in an uninterrupted stream. The patient confessed hav- ing gonorrhoea. Examination showed blood escaping from the meatus in jets as thick as a pencil, as from an artery transversely divided. Kofmann dipped a strip of gaiize into a solution of alumina acetate, mounted it on a long button probe, carried it as deeply as possible into the urethra and packed it firmly. Then he applied a pressure bandage about the i^enis, ordered the patient to go to bed, to avoid urinating as long as possible, prescribed opium and forbade drinking. On the following day the patient looked better, but still considerably affected. On removing the pressure bandage and extracting the blood-soaked packing, considerable bleeding resulted. The whole dressing was repeated and the patient ordered to return on the following day. He did not do so until one and a half months later. He then related the history of gonorrhoea four years before, lasting one 3'ear. Later he had had chancroid, still later another gon- orrhoea and chancre, and a third clap a year before the last con- sultation. The discharge was very copious and the patient suffered much pain, especially on urinating. Despite the dis- ease, the patient cohabited several times. During one inter- course he experienced intense pain, and immediately thereafter found his linen blood-soaked and blood dripping from the meatus. Since then the bleeding had recurred frequently, especially after the abuse of stimulants. The bleeding then al- ways came on after passing clear urine, sometimes in bright red drops, sometimes in a stream. Compression of the penis for some time always arrested the bleeding ; this was followed b}^ itching in the urethra, from which the patient extracted a co- agulum cast in the shape of the channel. Upon its withdrawal, bleeding immediately recurred. On the day he consulted the author the patient had drunk several glasses of tea and a con- siderable quantity of brandy. Bleeding, which then set in upon urination, proved uncontrollable. On the day after the second tamponing the patient removed the bandage and the packing. 1 Kofmann: " Zur Tamponade der Urethra." Centralblatt der Chirurgie, No. 19, 1899, quoted in Monatsbericlite iiber die Gesammtleistungen auf dem Gebiete der Krankheiten des Harn- und Sexualapparates, July, 1899. COMPLICATIONS AND SEQUELS OF GONORRHCEA. T9 This was followed by a thick coagulum and several drops of blood. Then the bleeding stopped ; the debility resulting from the loss of blood obliged the patient to remain in bed for two weeks. The origin of this bleeding was doubtless gonorrhcBal injury to a blood-vessel deep in the urethra, with subsequent laceration of the vessel. See also Foreign bodies mid Traumatism. H^MOSPEEHiiA, — Red or brownish semen is due to the ad- mixture of blood dejjendent upon very severe gonorrhoea or acute seminal vesiculitis. It is occasionally produced by mas- turbation, chronic orchitis, or chronic gonorrhoea. In vesicu- litis the spermatozoa are deformed, dead, or absent. The microscopic specimens also show red blood corpuscles, pigment, granular detritus, epithelia varying in accord with the region affected, and round cells. The most aggravated case of hsemospermia that ever came under my notice was that of a man of twenty-eight sent to me for complete loss of sexual desire, erections, and even nocturnal emis- sions. Six months before he, for the amusement of some com- rades of his own intellectual calibre, hacl four prostitutes perform buccal masturbation upon him in immediate succession. At the fourth ejaculation he fainted, and remained unconscious for a long while. The physician who was called found blood oozing from the meatus. This continued for several hours. No pathological conditions were discernible when I examined him. Under the use of tonics, galvanism, faradization and the psychrophore, he undeservedly recovered his potency in two years. For the treatment of hsemospermia, see Vesiculitis and Digital Palpation of the Urethral Adnexa. Hydrocele. — When epididymitis, orchitis, or orcho-epididy- mitis complicates gonorrhoea, the extension of the inflammation is not rarely accompanied by acute hydrocele. The effusion is often so slight as to be barely perceptible and, in the majority of cases is resorbed, w4ien the local inflammeiion subsides with- out any treatment being directed to it. When the swelling is very great and produces much painful tension, it is necessary, for purposes of differential diagnosis, to ascertain whether it is caused by serous effusion. The local pain, too severe to permit manipulation, is intensified when the 80 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. patient is placed in the standing position to secure transilla- mination of the scrotal sac. In such cases, the simplified urethroscope described on page 190 will fully serve, without in any manner increasing the pa- tient's discomfort. The light is inserted into a large urethro- scopic tube ; its mouth is passed over the side of the scrotum opposite the surgeon's eyes, while the patient, whose testicles are elevated as described under epididymitis, is not disturbed at all. If the swelling is due to acute hydrocele, the light will pass through the scrotal layers and the fluid, but not through the testicle, whose body can be clearly outlined. If the pain does not yield to the treatment directed against gonorrhoeal epididymitis, relief may be promptly obtained by puncturing the sac with a very fine narrow-bladed knife. At each withdrawal of the knife, a few drops of the yellowish effu- sion will squirt from the tumor. According to its size, fifteen to fifty such punctures may be required. The pain is trifling,- and the reduction of pain immediate. Consideration of hydrocele as an individual disease, result- ing from or preceding gonorrhoea, must be relegated to the large, recent works on genito-urinary diseases. Lymphadenitis gonokkhceica (gonorrhceal bubo) may com- plicate gonorrhoea if the patient commits any kind of excesses, indulges in violent or too prolonged exercise, or stands for many hours, as book-keepers, etc., must. Then one or more of the superficial glands in the subcutaneous cellular tissue, above the fascia lata, and immediately below Poupart's ligament, may be affected. The physician who makes it a rule to examine his cases at each visit, is likely to discover and often abort lymphadenitis before the patient becomes conscious of it. The first sign of lymphangitis (see below) should direct attention to the groin. If a single or double hard swelling is found there, and even if it is not painful or only slightly sensitive to pressure, it should be treated as mentioned below. If the jjatient's attention is attracted to these glands bj^pain, it will be found that the pain is increased by pressure and by standing. Early in the involvement of these glands, they are movable under the skin. Soon, however, they become adherent to it and the tissues around it. The region loses its hard con- COMPLICATIONS AND SEQUELS OF GONORRHCEA. 81 tour, becomes doughy, and assumes a reddened and later on a purple color. Even then, when properly treated, the inflamma- tion may terminate in resolution, unless the patient's resistance is weakened by dissipation, excessive work, malnutrition, or a "scrofulous constitution." Then the glands affected are likely to suppurate. At the first sign of such glandular enlargement, prolonged hot hip-baths, and mercurial ointment IT. S. P. rubbed into the region twice daily may abort the case. Pressure upon the en- larged gland, with a well-applied spica of the groin, if the pa- tient must be about, maj^ assist in resorption of the swelling. Its effect may be increased by neatly fitting a compressed sponge over the gland, and wetting it after the spica is applied. If the patient can remain abed, a stout bag containing three to five pounds of bird-shot may be fixed upon the groin, so that its weight exercises continuous pressure upon the gland. If in forty-eight hours the above course has not brought about marked relief, the enlarged gland or glands should be dissected out. Ordinarily this can be very well done under infiltration anaesthesia by Schleich's method. If the patient is timorous or the physician of limited surgical experience, the region may be ansesthetized with ethyl-chloride spray and the enlarged gland slit. After bleeding is arrested the cut must be irrigated with hot water or hot boric-acid solu- tion, and then filled with antinosin. This is retained by a covering of gauze and a spica. After two or three daily repeti- tions of this washing and dressing, the wound will be found filled with healthy granulations. Then nosophen dusted into it and the spica applied will ordinarily result in prompt cicatri- zation. If the case is not seen until the gland has become converted into an abscess, evacuation of its contents must be at once at- tained by free incision and curetting the cavity, which then must be treated as above indicated, or by packing with iodoform or nosophen gauze. Lymphangitis. — Persons who have no idea of cleanliness, or those with a tight meatus, or those employing dressings of the glans that invite retention of gonorrhoeal discharge, are likely to suffer inflammation of the lymphatics of the penis. At the very inception one or two superficial, diffuse, faint, 6 82 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. reddish lines show along tlie dorsum of the organ. Thej are rarely, if ever, observed bj^ the patient in this stage. A day or two later this discoloration disappears and one or two distinct cords can be felt beneath the skin. These cords may start near the frenum, pass like a bridle upward and backward behind the region of the corona to the dorsum and extend to the pubis. As the skin over this cord or cords becomes reddened again, pain sets in, which increases with the thickening of the lymphatics involved. This pain is much aggravated during erection. With the increase of pain, the skin that was freely movable over the enlarged lymphatics sometimes becomes adherent and very sen- sitive even to contact of the clothing. In most exceptional cases, a spot anywhere along the dorsal lymphatics hardens, lies in the loose connective tissue, where it enlarges, giving but little inconvenience. The lymphatics beliind such a knot are then not enlarged. The knot itself eyentually breaks down into an ordinary abscess. When a case of gonorrhoea presents, showing the preliminary light red lines, they subside after one or two irrigations, with all the precautions for cleanliness described under the technique of irrigation. If thickening of the lymphatics has set in, in addition to irrigations, the penis is kept enveloped in cloths wet with equal parts of alcohol and lead water, renewed whenever they begin to get warm. Severe cases may require the patient to keep abed, to rise only for hot sitz-baths, or entire hot baths three or four times daily. If erections are frequent and painful, either monobromate of camphor or bromide of potassium gen- erally controls them. These drugs failing, morphine may be used. Throughout, attention must be given to free intestinal evacuation. If the case has progressed to suppuration, the abscess must be promptly opened, curetted, and packed with iodoform or nosophen gauze. Neuroses (gonorrhoeal). — While most diseases carry with them more or less marked nervous depression, there is none in which it is more evident or more frequent than gonorrhoea. The cause of nervous manifestations even at the inception of clap may be attributable to the consciousness of being physically unclean, or of being a menace to others; or they may be at- COMPLICATIONS AND SEQUELS OF GONORRHOEA. 83 tributable to the deprivation from habitual sexual intercourse or stimulants. More recent investigations, however, make it appear that the gonococcus toxins directly attack the nervous system. At all events Leleneff ' reports the following disturb- ances of the nervous sj^stem produced by gonorrhoea : (1) Changes in the sensory nerves, causing anaesthesia, hypersesthesia, paraesthesia, and pain in the nerves, in the skin, in joints, in muscles, and in internal organs ; (2) changes in the vasomotor nerves, causing hyperemia, anaemia, paralysis of vessels, and dermographism; (3) changes in the secretory nerves, causing increased or diminished sweating, local sweat- ing, an increase in the flow of mucus from the urethra, etc. ; (4) changes in the trophic nerves, causing some forms of skin dis- ease, atrophy of the testicle, and muscular atrophy ; (5) changes in the motor nerves, causing paresis, paralyses, and twitchings; (6) changes in the skin reflexes and tendon reflexes. Gonor- rhoea! affections of the central nervous system give rise to a variety of symptoms, such as asthenic neuropsychosis, neuras- thenia, hemiplegia phenomena, etc. - These disturbances, however, seem to premise that gonor- rhoea, to produce them, must be implanted upon an existing neurotic tendency. Beard '^ has shown that Americans are more prone to this complication than are patients of other nationali- ties. He attributes this to our unfavorable climate, overwork, anxiety, excesses in tobacco and alcohol. This view is confirmed by my observations in European genito-urinary dispensaries and hospitals, where neurasthenia complicating gonorrhoea is certainly far less frequent than it is among us. Von Krafft-Ebing^ reports only eight cases in which local genito-urinary disease was manifest in one hundred and four- teen cases of neurasthenia. Lowenf eld * is of the opinion that most of those afflicted with 1 Leleneff: "The Nervous System in Gonorrhoea." Wratch, No. 4, escei'pted by Medical Record, July 15th, 1899. 2 Beard: "Sexual Neurasthenia." ^Von Krafft-Ebing : " Ueber Neurasthenia Sexualis beim Manne." Wie- ner medicinische Presse, No. 5 et seq., 1887. ^Lowenfeld: "Sexualleben und Nervenleiden," Bergmann, Wiesbaden, 1899. 84: THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. clap-neurasthenia are individuals witli hypocliondriacal predis- position, in whom the consciousness of suffering from a genital affection evokes persistent mental depression and frequently most exaggerated worry regarding its possible consequences. Such a patient continually directs his thoughts to the condition of his urethra, watches its secretions with anxious care, and sub- mits to interminable attempts at curing it with astringents and cauterizants. This author concludes that clap-neurasthenia is more frequently the result of chronic maltreatment of the ure- thra than of its disease. Every practitioner, and particularly every specialist, has seen innumerable cases in which urethritis has been maintained in- definitely by over-treatment, even when the methods employed correctly met the indications while the disease existed. Naturally then, when discharge and floaters in the urine are made to continue by urethral maltreatment, or continuance of treatment when it has become unnecessary, the neuroses pro- voked by the manifestations of apparent disease must continue. The more persistent these neuroses are, the more difficult their cure becomes. When all discharge has ceased, the presence of floaters in the urine, which may continue for several weeks after a gonor- rhoea has subsided, may disturb the patient's mind. Some patients, even when the urine is perfectly clear, acquire remark- able dexterity in stripping the urethra, by which they can at almost any time produce a minute drop of normal secretion at the meatus, to which they point as evidence of their uncured condition. When in such cases the urethroscope shows the absence of disease, it is the physician's duty to direct his treatment to the mental condition, lest the patient be driven by its persistence to the quacks, who will gratify the patient's desire for active local maltreatment as long as he can pay for it. Arguments and evidence of the microscope are only exceptionally of avail. The more palpable the physician's honest}' is, the less he will be able, as a rule, to convince such a patient that the healthy urethra must be left alone. Under such circumstances, it is perfectly justifiable to per- suade such a patient that the passed gonorrhoea has affected his constitution and that he requires constitutional treatment for COMPLICATIONS AND SEQUELS OF GONORRHOEA. 85 its cure. Ordinarily tlie drugs administered must, to be effec- tive, have a decided taste, sucli as tincture of nux vomica in watery solution. It will be well to warn sucli patients against tlie disastrous effects of " squeezing out tlie perennial drop " wLile taking this drug or any other that may be used. (See also Chronic Gonorrhoea.) If the neurasthenia persists despite all suggestive treatment that the physician's ingenuity may devise to suit the special manifestations in each case, or the peculiar bent the mind has taken, the patient should be referred to a neurologist, because then it has gone beyond the field of general practice or the genito-urinary specialty. It must, however, never be forgotten that a very minute ure- thral lesion can maintain a neurotic condition, even when not the slightest discharge can be brought to the meatus and the urine remains perfectly clear. If such a lesion exists, it can be found. When it is properly treated, the neurasthenia subsides with or shortly after its disappearance. When gonorrhoea has destroyed tissues or organs through changes in the trophic nerves, surgical intervention may be re- quired, to restore the patient's nervous and mental equilibrium. Several cases are reported in which an atrophied testicle was substituted by a celluloid body, with satisfactory results, as far as the patient's mental state was concerned. (Edema of the skin of the penis may complicate gonorrhoea, especially in persons who keep the organ in a filthy condition. It subsides with attention to cleanliness. In a number of cases, an immense oedema of all the tissues of the penis sets in almost immediately after the first or second irrigation. This is painless and disturbs the patient in no wise, except by the sensation of a large bulk in the trousers. In the majority of cases, when this oedema occurs, the gonorrhoea will be aborted in a very short time, probably because then no parts of the organ remain a favorable culture medium for gonococci. Ophthalmia, gonorrhoeal. — Whenever a patient with gonor- rhoea, or one who has come in contact with the disease, shows a slight reddening of the conjunctiva, with an increased flow of tears, the latter should be examined microscopically. Whether gonococci are found or not, the patient should without a mo- ment's loss of time be referred to an ophthalmologist. 86 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. If a specialist in eye diseases is not instantly accessible, tlie patient should be put to bed and, until the ophthalmologist arrives, small compresses taken from a block of ice must be put upon the eye, every two or three minutes, day and night. Silver nitrate, as laid down in works on ophthalmology, should be employed as soon as the secretion becomes creamy. The healthy eye should be protected by an occlusive dressing. BuUer's dressing has the advantage of permitting continual in- spection and conse- -'^^^, quent early treat- ment, if the healthy eye has become in- fected. OeCHI - EPIDIDYMI- TIS — see Epididy- mitis. Pabaphimosis complicating gonor- rhoea does not fre- quently assume a severe form, and it usually subsides as the gonorrhsea im- pr o ves . When, however, a patient attempts forcibly to reduce a gonorrhoeal phimosis and man- ages to slip the fore- skin beyond the glans, the preputial orifice soon becomes rigid, constricts the penis, which then swells, producing the familiar deformity. If the constriction and consequent oedema are not promptly relieved, the penis presents three distinct swellings and three more or less deep contractures, as shown on the ac- companying drawing. 1. The margin of the corona is much swollen, forming a thick ridge. 2. The coronary sulcus rendered deeper by the swelling around it. 3. Glistening mucous fold sometimes overlapping the sulcus Fig. 18.— Paraphimosis. COMPLICATIONS AND SEQUELS OF GONORRHCEA. 8Y and glans, formed of tliat part of the preputial mucosa that lay upon the posterior aspect of the corona. 4. A very deep, tight, constricting band; this is the pre- putial cutaneo-mucous margin, and, being the real point of con- striction, is the cause of the trouble in this position. Ifc is the surgical point of paraphimosis, the one that must be severed when operation becomes necessary. 5. Behind the hard constriction is another thick roll, con- sisting of preputial integument crowded back and held there by the constriction. 6. Another furrow, less deep and less tight than the former, is formed by the swollen tissues crowding back upon those that are not involved in the constriction before them. This general type of paraphimosis may suffer a number of variations : the rolls of mucosa and skin may become so thick as to cover the furrows beneath them ; the penis may be so con- stricted at the second furrow as to make it look as if bent for- ward at a right angle upon itself; the constriction may be lateral, giving the penis a twisted appearance. - When dislocation backward of the prepuce is recent, it may often be reduced by manipulation, after soaking the penis in a hot antiseptic solution for twenty or thirty minutes. Then, after drying the organ, a little vaseline or lubrichondrin is ap- plied within the second constricting furrow, but nowhere else, lest it render the organ too slippery for manipulation. The penis is then grasped and steadied by the index and middle fingers of both hands, passed from both sides so that the tips of the indices touch each other on the dorsum, while the middle fingers cross below. In this position the fingers compress the third roll, while the thumbs perform a species of massage upon the glans as they strive to crowd it back within the prepuce. If it will yield at all, it will do so in a few minutes of this manipulation. If the paraphimosis cannoi be reduced by manipulation, or if efforts to perform it are excessively painful, or if the constric- tion has become too dense to yield, it will be promptly relieved by incision in most cases. Neglected cases usually end by necrosis at the central dorsal point of the second furrow. Following this indication, the surgeon passes a sharp-pointed, curved, narrow bistoury be- 88 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OP GONORRHOEA. neath. tlie constriction, gathering it npon its edge as if it were a cord. In doing so, he takes care not to wound the corpora cavernosa. In severing the "cord " it may impart quite a carti- laginous sensation to the knife. If the first cut is not successful in relieving the tension, a second may be made. In case the swelling so overlaps or distorts the furrows that the second one cannot be found, a straight, narrow knife is used instead of a curved one. The penis is then rested in the palm of the left hand while the thumb and fingers depress and render tense the folds. Then the skin and mucous membrane are incised firmly, holding the knife perpendicularly' to the axis of the penis, but not cutting more deeply tha.n the integumentary coverings. These incisions must be continued until the con- striction is felt to give way. In such case the incisions along the dorsum of the penis should be no longer than the length of the glans. When the constriction has been severed, the foreskin can as a rule be easily drawn forward. It will then appear as if it had been slit. Ordinarily the cut heals soon, leaving a dog's-ear foreskin, which subsequently may be remedied by complete cir- cumcision. Peeiaetheitis — see Rheumatism. Phumosis. — While many fine distinctions are made by au- thors regarding irretractibility of the foreskin, Taylor's' defini- tion embraces all practical requirements: "Phimosis is that condition of the prepuce which prevents its retraction and the exposure of the glans. It may be congenital or acquired." Many boys are born with a redundant prepuce. With some it is so tight that it cannot be withdrawn. It is debatable whether any boys are born with adhesions of the prepuce to the glans ; at all events, in most of those whom I have circumcised, the prepuce had at least a few adherences. In some the adher- ence was so general as to oblige complete dissection of the inner lining from the glans. The growth of the prepuce sometimes does not keep pace with that of the rest of the organ. The result may be an arrest of development of the glans. In one case treated in my class in the New York School of Clinical Medicine, the patient, a 'Taylor: Venereal Diseases, Lea Brothers & Co., Philadelphia, 1895. COMPLICATIONS AND SEQUELS OF GONORRHCEA. 89 negro, aged thirty-eight, had a fully developed penis, except as to the glans, which was no larger than that of a small boy of twelve years. After liberation of the glans by circumcision of a very small, tight, thick, unyielding foreskin, the glans began to develop and in three months' time attained almost its normal dimensions. A tight foreskin, even when not redundant, by its irritation is likely to provoke masturbation. Normal secretions, or drops of urine retained and decomposed within the preputial sac, may cause ulcerations and heavy strong adhesions whenever these ulcerations heal. Concretions of smegma, sometimes quite hard and friable, are often found lying about the glans, and especially in the coronary sulcus. Urinary salts are sometimes deposited in this region. All these substances act as foreign bodies erod- ing the delicate mucosa ; by accretion they may become adherent, embedded, and often produce extensive ulcerations. Local symptoms of phimosis may be entirely absent, the mucosa accustoming itself to the irritation even of inspissated pieces of smegma or urinary concretions. They then will be discovered only accidentally or when an infection obliges the patient to seek professional advice. Ordinarily, however, there is at least heat about the glans. More frequently all the local evidences of balanitis or balanoposthitis with their conse- quences — new adhesions, venereal warts and fissures — call for treatment. Phimosis may lead to obstructive conditions due to the ad- hesions, retained secretions, or subpreputial calculi mentioned above, or the preputial orifice may be so tight as to prove an obstruction to the free emission of urine. Then vesical irrita- bility, dilatation of the bladder, ureters, and renal pelvis may obtain. Hemorrhoids and hernia may also result from the heavy pressure required in attempts to force the urine through the obstacles. The liberal supply of nerves to the glans, when pressed upon by a tight foreskin and its local results, often reflexly evokes diseases such as convulsions in children, urinary re- tention and incontinence, unduly frequent erections, excessive seminal emissions, spastic paralyses, pseudo-hip-joint disease, muscular incoordination, etc. Naturally their presence with or developing in a phimosed patient does not make the tight fore- 90 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. skin the only etiological factor; still, its possibility must not be overlooked. When phimosis develops from neglected gonorrhoea, it ordi- narily subsides shortly after beginning irrigations, unless heavy Fig. 19.— Applying Constrictor. lymph deposits have organized in the preputial tissues. In such cases, or when phimosis precedes gonorrhoea, circumcision should be performed as soon as the more acute symptoms have subsided. But when the preputial orifice is so small as to pre- vent exposure of the meatus, or when adhesions are so numerous and tight that the glans cannot be cleansed, circumcision will be required despite the acute gonorrhoea. The objections that may be offered to circumcision during acute gonorrhoea are : 1. Possible infection of the wound, especially when the ure- thritis is of a mixed character. 2. Difficulty of manipulation of the penis, as in irrigations, before th^ircumcision wound has healed. To prevent infection of the cut, as far as possible while the patient has acute clap, a continuous stream of mercuric bichlo- COMPLICATIONS AND SEQUELS OF GONORRHCEA. 91 ride 1 : 30,000 should be kept running over tlie entire field of operation, from its beginning to its end. The other objection is easily overcome by the circumcision I invariably practise, which may be concisely described in the following directions : 1. Thoroughly scrub the penis, and especially as much of the mucous fold of the prepuce as can be reached, with soap and hot water. 2. Irrigate the preputial sac with hot potassic permanganate solution 1 : 6,000 until the fluid that flows from it is entirely clear. 3. Envelop the anterior four-fifths of the penis in absorbent cotton soaked in mercuric bichloride 1 : 2,000. 4. Tie a rubber band as tightly as it can be drawn around the root of the penis (Fig. 19). As brutal as this precaution against Fig. 20.— Freezing Tip of ForesMn. hemorrhage may appear, it is quite painless, and its only result is some ecchymosis of the penis, which subsides in a few days. 5. Pass a probe as large as the preputial orifice will admit into the sac and sweep it around all its parts to ascertain if the prepuce is anywhere adherent. 92 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. 6. Freeze a small spot at the tip of tlie foreskin with ethyl chloride (Fig. 20). 7. Inject into the frozen spot a drop of Schleich's' solution No. 1 ^ig. 21). 8. At the posterior margin of the bleb so produced inject another drop within the skin. Continue the line of drops along Fig. 31,— Injecting First Drop of AnfEsthetic Solution. the dorsal aspect of the prepuce to a quarter of an inch beyond the point where the elevated margin of the corona is felt through the foreskin. 9. Inject a similar line of drops following the line of the coronary margin until the region of the frenum is reached on one side. Repeat this procedure on the other side. 10. Keep the syringe loaded for more infiltration, especially when the preputial orifice is so tight that the mucosa cannot be exposed. 11. Pinch up the dorsal aspect of the prepuce with the left thumb and index finger. 12. Insert the blunt arm of a pair of probe-pointed scissors and carry it back as far as possible toward the corona. Drop the prepuce upon the blade of the scissors ; inexperienced operators ' Schleich : Schmerzlose Operationen, Springer, Berlin, 1894. COMPLICATIONS AND SEQUELJE OP GONOKRHCEA. 93 will do well to sweep the scissors about under tlie foreskin, while the left fingers feel it, especially in infants, to be sure that the scissors arm is not within the urethra (Fig. 22). 13. Draw back the skin and thus render it as tense as possi- ble. Cut through the part of the foreskin that lies between the scissors blades. This will produce a large cut through the skin and a disproportionately small cut into the mucosa (Fig. 23). 14. Grasp the cut angles of the skin and mucosa with artery clamps, hold one in the left hand and give the other to an as- sistant. "While the mucosa is thus tensely held, infiltrate drops of the Schleich solution along the mucosa as far as possible in a line toward the corona. Cut the mucosa as far as this line goes. Eepeat the linear infiltration in the part that is now ex- FlG. 23.— Inserting Scissors. posed. Continue cutting and infiltrating to within three-eighths of an inch of the corona. 15. Repeat the entire procedure along the lateral lines reach- ing from the dorsum of the prepuce to the frenum, on both sides, leaving a collar of mucosa three-eighths of an inch wide. Let the prepuce then hang from the region of the frenum, to serve as a convenient handle for further manipulations (Fig. 24). 94 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. No bleeding, beyond a slight oozing, will interfere with the above steps, if the rubber band about the root of the penis has been firmly applied. Should bleeding to a disturbing extent set in, another and tighter band around the root of the penis will remedy the defect, or the bleeding vessels may be ligated. 16. Pass a needle armed with six inches of or 00 catgut through the mucosa, at the centre of the dorsum of the penis. A straight Gentile's (Fig. 26) modification of the Hagedorn needle will be found admirable for quick work. The needle Fig. 33.— First Dorsal Incision. should transfix the mucosa at one-eighth inch from its cut margin. Take up the skin in the same manner and tie the skin and mu- cosa into neat, tight, but not wrinkled apposition, with a double surgical knot. Take care that the cut edges of skin and mucosa embrace no cellular tissue. Grasp the free ends of the catgut in the jaws of an artery forceps and lay it on the abdomen which has been covered with a sterilized towel. This will serve to readily distinguish it from the other sutures at the close of the operation. 17. Apply similar sutures, each six inches long, to bring skin and mucous membrane together around the entire cut edges> COMPLICATIONS AND SEQUELS OF GONOKKHGEA. 95 Fig. 24. — Lateral Incision. until within one-fourth inch of each side of the frenum. Always take care that no connective tissue is allowed to project between the lips of the wound, which would then not have the advantage Fig. 25.— Inserting the First (Dorsal) Suture. 96 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHOEA. 5 of primary union. Wlierever a bit of this tissue cannot be forced back to remain, another suturing of skin to mucosa over it will accomplish the desired end. After knotting each suture at the wound lips, tie its free ends together in a slip knot so that each pair of sutures can be easily found together at the conclusion of the operation. 18. Baise the prepuce where it hangs from the freuum and replace the skin and mucosa in their original relative positions. "While an assist- ant so stretches the foreskin, pierce its base along the frenum with a needle armed with sis inches of catgut twice the thickness of that used before. 19. Give the ends of the suture to the assistant who stretches it at a tangent to the axis of the penis. Take the prepuce in the left fingers, rais- ing the penis. Then, avoiding the suture held by the assistant, cut off the foreskin neatly along the line of the frenum. Tie the ligature to bring the skin in coaptation with the exposed part of the cut frenum. Grasp the ends of the suture with an artery clamp, and place it upon the scro- tum, which has been covered with a sterilized towel. 20. Examine the entire line of sutur^, to be sure that neat coaptation is everywhere obtained. Wherever connective tissue projects between the lips it must be returned, and if it will not remain beneath the lips, an additional suture placed over it. 21. Slowly relax the rubber band that con- stricts the root of the penis. In a few moments there may be some oozing from the lips of the wound. If more than mere oozing results, addi- tional sutures will control the bleeding. 22. Fold a strip of ten-per-cent. iodoform gauze or three-per-cent. nosophen gauze, eight inches long by one and one-half inches wide, into four smooth, equal, longitudinal folds. Have it stretched by the assistant (Fig. 30) at right angles over the first suture, whose ends are held by the artery clamp lying on the abdomen. 23. Release the suture from its clamp, separate its ends, and pass them around the gauze. Tie the gauze firmly against the COMPLICATIONS AND SEQUELS OF GONORRHCEA. 97 Fig. 28.— Lateral Sutures Applied. 98 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. first knot, by wliicli the skin and mucosa were brought together, Repeat this procedure with each suture, whose corresponding ends, though now all are matted together with blood, can be easily found, because they were tied together with a slip-knot. The gauze must everywhere be laid smoothly upon the wound lips ; its tension must be even. 24. When both ends of the gauze are hanging from the last suture at either side of the frenum, release the suture from the Fig. 29— Cutting Off Prepuce. Note : Two gentlemen assisted at the operation above depicted. When performed with one assistant the upper end of the frenal suture can be held by the ring and little fingers of the hand that holds the clamp. clamp lying on the scrotum and give its ends to the assistant, who stretches them apart while placing the penis on the pubis. 25. Take the gauze strip pendent from the left side and lay it smoothly to the right side of the penis, upon the knot of the suture being stretched by the assistant. Then place the end of gauze pendent from the right side and cross it to the left (Fig. 31) . Firmly tie the two ends of gauze within the last suture. 26. Cut off the projecting ends of gauze and trim the catgut sutures beyond their knots, leaving, a smooth neat collar of gauze, about a quarter of an inch behind the corona, firm enough to press any ununited parts of the wound into coaptation, but COMPLICATIONS AND SEQUELS OF GONORRHCEA. 99 Fig. 30.— Applying Gauze Collar. not tight enough to exert the slightest pressure upon the penis or give pain during erection (Fig. 32). A little blood will ooze into the collar. This will swell Fig. 31.— Closing Gauze Collar. 100 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. slightly, and in so doing press any little gapings of tlie wound lips together. A light gauze bandage will steady the ring in walking. It should be so applied as to leave the whole glans free, that none of the dressing be soiled by urination. As the glans, so ex- posed, would suffer from friction with the clothing, it must be covered thickly with vaseline, over which a wad of absorbent cot- ton is placed and tied around the penis with a strip of gauze. Fig. 33.— Circumcision Completed. After each urination, fresh vaseline and cotton are applied by the patient. In two or three days the mucosa over the glans will be sufficiently hardened to render this protection unneces- sary. If the patient requires treatment for gonorrhoea, irrigations can be performed, and by using a little additional care in hand- ling the penis, without pain from the operation. Ordinarily, i.e. when the patient requires no treatment for gonorrhoea that moistens this dressing, the gauze ring will in a day become as hard as stiff pasteboard. In from four to eight days the catgut holding the wound lips together will be ab- sorbed; the ring will then drop off, leaving the line of primary COMPLICATIONS AND SEQUELS OF GONORRHCEA. 101 ■union in evidence of tlie care and neatness with wliicli tlie operation lias been performed. In circumcising children or unruly boys, general ansesthesia proves preferable to infiltration. When the latter is properly employed, it renders the entire operation absolutely painless. When phimosis accompanies gonorrhoea, associated with chancre or chancroid, the danger of sloughing of the wound prohibits circumcision. As, however, the clap must be treated and as the sores may produce large destruction of tissue, unless they receive attention, it becomes necessary to expose the glans entirely. This is best accomplished by two lateral incisions, one on each side of the penis, half-way between the frenum and the dorsal median line of the foreskin. In most cases, Taylor's phimosis scissors will be found useful; still as often very hard preputial infiltrations may render its employment difficult, a stout, slightly curved sharp-point bistoury will be found more effective. It is passed upon a grooved director which has been inserted into the coronary sulcus, the preputial skin drawn back as far as possible, the knife made to penetrate the mucosa, the intervening tissue and to project from the skin, cuts a steady, straight line outward. This cut is repeated on the opposite side. The operation should be preceded by very thorough anti- septic irrigation of the preputial sac. After both sides of the prepuce are slit, a large flap of foreskin projecting above and another hanging below will expose the entire glans for examina- tion and treatment as soon as bleeding has ceased. Pollutions. — There is no symptom in connection with gon- orrhoea that does less harm and creates more consternation than an emission of semen, especially in a patient whose mind has been misdirected by quack advertisements. It is often difficult to persuade such a patient into appreciation of the essential facts, viz. : 1. That in abstinence from sexual intercourse occasional emissions of semen from the overfilled seminal vesicles are i)er- fectly normal. 2. That the local irritation of gonorrhoea is likely to evoke emissions more frequently than they would occur in health. 3. That no proximate or remote injury will come to the pa- tient from such emissions, when they are not too frequent. Their frequency may vary widely within normal limits. 102 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. 4. That only wlien tlie semen emitted is bloodj^ or wlien its emission gives pain enougli to awake the patient, is it indica- tive of seminal vesiculitis and then requires attention. If the patient's intellect is too limited to permit him to grasp these ideas, the physician is perfectly justified in employing such subterfuges as will best appeal to the patient's understand- ing. The one that succeeds most frequently is to felicitate the patient on the occurrence of these pollutions and to offer him remedies that will cause their continuance. The "remedies" then prescribed must naturally be only placebos. At the same time, a towel tied around the waist and heavily knotted over the spine to prevent the patient sleeping on his back, and light evening meals, will contribute to reducing the frequencj^ of pollutions. Prostatitis. — Wossidlo' insists that no case of gonorrhoea be dismissed as cured before the physician has assured himself that the prostate is free from invasion. If this advice were al- ways followed, there would be few, if any, cases of recurrent gonorrhoea. The almost direct manner in which the prostatic ducts empty into the posterior urethra seems to invite infection from this region to the prostate, by continuity of surface. Bransford Lewis^ supports his own studies of the frequency of infection of the posterior urethra, by the statistics of other authors, such as Letzel, who found posterior urethritis in 92.5 per cent, of gon- orrhoeas, Jadassohn in 87.7 per cent., Eona in 79.7 per cent. My own observations have led to the views expressed in the chapter on Acute Posterior Gonorrhoea. Like posterior urethritis, gonorrhoeal prostatitis may give but slight or practically no manifestations of its presence. It is therefore likely to be overlooked unless one makes it a rule to follow Wossidlo's sage advice. A slight discomfort about the perineum and rectum may be the only indication of the disease. If this does not receive at- tention, pain referred more directly to the bladder may follow. ^Wossidlo; "Treatment of Chronic Prostatitis." Journal of the Ameri- can Medical Association, August 27th, 1898. ,, 2 Lewis: "The R61e of the Posterior Urethra in Chronic Urethritis." Read before the American Association of Genito-Urinary Surgeons, June 21st, 1893 (reprint from Medical Record). COMPLICATIONS AND SEQUELS OF GONORRHCEA. 103 The pain is accentuated by urination and defecation, especially when efforts are necessary to expel hard fseces. The patient is obliged to urinate frequently, but does not experience complete relief from the act. While the frequency may, in great degree, be caused by the coincident posterior urethritis, there is neces- sarily an amount of urine retained in the bladder. The quantity of residual urine is in proportion to the degree of prostatic engorgement. This pushes that part of the bladder which lies over the prostate upward into the vesical cavity. Behind this elevation a trough is produced, from which the bladder con- tractions do not suffice to force all the urine it contains above the hillock made by the enlargement. Sometimes the entire lower part of the enlarged prostate juts into the bladder cavity in such a manner as to form a species of valve. This is shown after such a patient has voided all the urine he can extrude by irrigating his bladder with a potassium permanganate solution. No difficulty opposes the inflowing solution, because it forces the prostate back toward its place. But when the patignt voids all he can of the solution, it will be found decolorized by the retained urine if it is normal, or rendered brown, "muddy," in case the urine has become septic. The prostate in this condition may cause " stammering " urination, as Guyon graphically describes it. The patient, by a series of contortions, invites the stream which, while he holds himself in a certain position, may flow freely; then suddenly an untoward motion throws the enlarged prostate against the internal meatus and urination stops. The greater the efforts made, the more firmly is the bladder outlet blocked. Only after successful efforts at relaxation does the prostate fall back and allow the urine to flow. But the bladder contractions may force the prostate up, and let it drop again, producing the character- istic stammering. The end of urination may be painful and accompanied by emission of pus and blood. When the conclu- sion of urination is so disturbed, neither the pain nor extrusion of pus and blood is as marked as in acute posterior urethritis. Naturally, if the prostatic trouble accompanies posterior ure- thritis in the fulminant form, the severe symptoms of the latter will overshadow those produced by the engorged prostate. The frequency with which acute prostatitis complicates pos- terior urethritis is disputed. This may be due to the omission 104 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. of prostatic examination and to subsidence of its severer symp- toms with tlie decrease of those of the urethritis. On examining the prostate per rectum, the finger finds the gut hot, more or less firm and tender to the touch, according to the degree of inflammation. The anterior wall itself bulges downward and backward into the rectal space. The enlarged prostate, very tender to the touch, can be outlined through the rectal wall. These findings are the only ones by which prosta- titis can be differentiated from posterior urethritis. The rational division of this complication into simple acute prostatitis, acute follicular and parsnchymatous prostatitis is sufficiently explanatory of the varieties. Their detailed con- f^ Fig. 33.— White and Martin's Rectal Injector. sideration is unnecessary in a book limited to treatment, which does not materially differ in the several forms of the disease. If the case is seen at the inception of the prostatic involve- ment, the patient must be put to bed, with a sewing-board or leaf of an extension table under that part of the mattress upon which his buttocks rest. Upon this a thick hair pillow is placed to elevate the pelvis. The intestinal discharges are kept soft by skimmed milk to the exclusion of other food, and the urine bland by alkaline diuretics. Irrigations of the urethra and bladder are as a rule exceedingly well borne during acute prosta- titis, especially when the manifestations of posterior urethritis are marked. If perineal pain and vesical tenesmus are severe, leeches to the xjerineum will furnish relief. Eectal irrigations, hot or cold, according to the local and general condition, often give very prompt relief. The most con- venient instrument for these irrigations is the rectal injector COMPLICATIONS AND SEQUELS OF GOXORRHCEA. 105 described by White and Martin, wlio direct its use as follows : " A quart of a seven-tenths-per-cent. salt solution is heated from 110° to 115° r., and the injection pipe is introduced into the anus and its end tilted upward and forward so that the stream when it is turned on shall flow directly on the prostatic tumor as it bulges into the rectum. The exit pipe allows the fluid to flow away as fast as it enters the bowel. This treatment should be repeated two or three times a day." When using this rectal irrigator, I found that larger quanti- ties of hot water, two or even three quarts, gave more relief than one. After each rectal irrigation a suppository of Iodoform, pulv., . . . . . . • gr. ss.-iss. Codein. phosph., gr. |— i. 01. theobrom., q. s. " will aid in resolution, and further assuage pain. Some patients bear cold irrigations much better than hot ones. In the beginning of jjrostatic involvement they occasion- ally act better; indeed, if used early enough, they often appear to abort the case. Hot baths, and particularly hot sitz-baths, twice or three times daily, of ten to twenty minutes' duration each, will often give marked relief. Li some cases a hot-water bag to the peri- neum aids in making the patient's condition tolerable. Persistent severe pain and tenesmus, both vesical and rectal, may oblige recourse to opium administered by the rectum or morphine injected deeply into the perineum. When prostatic enlargement prevents urination and the oth- er means suggested for relief fail, or when the emergency of the case demands, recourse must be had to catheterization. As repetition of the use of the catheter will be required, and is painful, it will be well, when the urine is retained because of prostatitis, to employ permanent catheterization (see Ketention). If the prostate has become the site of pus formation, no time should be lost by any of the above procedures. Palpation through the rectum will reveal whether fluctuation points toward the bowel. If it does not, fairly moderate pressure may cause the pus to escape into the urethra; indeed, it is often so re- lieved by nature. In case this effort fail, it may be supple- mented by the introduction of a Benique or Guy on sound, which 106 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHOEA. offers increased resistance, and performing massage while the sound is held in the bladder. But unless the physician has large experience in the use of genito-urinary instruments and is endowed with great delicacy of touch he should certainly avoid the use of these sounds, es- pecially in acute inflammatory con- ditions. I f fluctuation does not distinctly point rectumward, and if nature or massage does not empty the pus into the urethra, a me- d.i a n perineal incision will be re- quired for its evac- uation and sub- sequent thorough drainage. When, how- ever, pus distinctly points to the rec- tum, it may b e considered as na- ture's indication of the most favorable site for evacuation. Acting upon this suggestion, I have, i n eight cases, opened prostatic abscess by a long incision through the anterior rectal wall, packed the cavity with iodoform gauze, and have not observed one case of general infection. It is true that in each of these cases the rectum was on the point of break- ing down when I operated. COMPLICATIONS AND SEQUELAE OF GONORRHCEA. lOT In tlie above, termination of prostatitis by resolution or sup- puration only lias been considered. Prostatitis may also go over into a clironic inflammation of the gland. Chronic prosta- titis may also be a sequel to clironic posterior urethritis or cystitis, with no appreciable acute prostatitis preceding it. The gland being predisposed by congestion, it is easily susceptible to infection. Any disturbance producing pelvic engorgement, irritating injections, continued sexual excesses, masturbation, hemorrhoids, concentrated urine, habitual constipation, may produce congestion of the prostate. The symptoms of chronic prostatitis differ but little from those of chronic posterior urethritis. The most marked dif- ference is in a burning pain distinctly referred to a point almost immediately behind the fossa navicularis. Urination may be followed by and defecation associated with an emission of a milk- like fluid, which on examination is found to consist of prostatic juice, amyloid prostatic bodies, occasionally blood, epithelium from the prostate and its ducts, and i)us. The pain after urina- tion and defecation or either may be severe, lasting sometimes for several hours. It may radiate from deep in the perineum to the rectum, testicles, and down the thighs, and is aggravated by motion or effort of any kind. The perineum is tender to touch. Kectal examination of the prostate shows it to be irregularly nodulated or asymmetric. After massage, the urine contains considerable pus. The mind and nervous system suffer perhaps more in chronic prostatitis than in any other genito-urinary affection excepting seminal vesiculitis. These sufferings are aggravated when ac- companied by reduction or loss of sexual desire. The patient then becomes markedly neurasthenic and even melancholic, with the usual accompaniment of general depressed physical tone. The constitutional treatment of such cases demands regular- ity in meals, consisting of nutritious, bland, easily digestible food; systematic exercise, preferably walking in the open air, not, however, to the extent of tiring the patient, and a sufficiency of sleep. Locally, rectal injections of a pint of hot water retained as long as possible and followed by a suppository of iodoform and codeine phosphate, twice or three times daily, will afford relief. 108 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. Hot sitz-baths twice or tliree times daily will also aid in tlie treatment. Massage of the prostate every second day will empty the organ of pus that has accumulated, and will relieve congestion if it contains no pus. The most beneficial manner of securing this end is by a complete intravesical irrigation with boric acid, four per cent., followed by filling the bladder with the same solution, after its first washing has been passed out. The massage is performed after the bladder has been almost filled for the second time. The fluid then passed will be found turbid with the substances expressed from the prostate. If the patient can stand a third intravesical irrigation, one of silver nitrate 1:5,000 or 1:3,000, according to his vesical tolerance, may be advantageously used (see also Kectal Palpation of the Urethral Adnexa). Patients with chronic prostatitis are liable to acute intercur- rences. These must be treated as suggested for acute prosta- titis. Betention of ueine is rare in gonorrhoea. It may occur in very hyperacute cases, or in those aggravated by alcohol, coi- tus, masturbation, irritating injections, or the introduction of in- struments. Invasion of the prostate and the presence of even large calibre strictures may produce retention of urine in gonor- rhoea, by the urethrospasm they are likely to provoke. When a patient with gonorrhoea cannot pass urine, he is usually in such agony that the history of the case cannot be ob- tained. It will be well, before attempting to unload the blad- der, to examine the prostate. If the finger inserted into the rectum feels the prostate to be enlarged, hot and sensitive to touch, the retention is attributable to at least congestion of this gland. If the prostate be found normal, any or several of the above causes may be at the bottom of the retention. The patient should be at once placed in a hot bath, hot enemata given him, followed by a suppository of iodoform and opium. If these fail to relieve the emergency, the following steps for evacuating the bladder may be employed : 1. Irrigate the anterior urethra with potassium permanganate 1:6,000 or boric acid four per cent. The solution should be at a temperature of between 110° and 120° F. This irrigation alone often suffices to relieve the spasm. COMPLICATIONS AND SEQUELS OP GONORRHCEA. 109 2. After using 750 c.c. (one and a lialf pints) of eitlier of tlie above solutions, inject one or two draclims of a warm two-per- cent, solution of eucaine into tlie urethra. Hold it there by com- pressing the sides of the glans with the left thumb and index finger. Stroke the urethra with the right fingers at first gently, then with increasing pressure, to force the eucaine solution beyond the site of the spasm, which is usually located in the membranous portion. 3. Kemove the nozzle from the irrigator tube and attach in its place a sterilized semi-soft French conical, well-lubricated catheter. 4. Insert the catheter, and when its eye is beyond the meatus let the irrigating fluid pass through it. 5. Very gently glide the catheter onward, striving to reach the bladder before the entire contents of the irrigator have escaped from the urethra. If the catheter in its onward course meets an obstacle which it cannot overcome without force, withdraw the instrument an eighth or a quarter of an inch and endeavor to insert it in slightly different directions until the lumen is found. 6. If the semi-soft catheter fails to enter the bladder, re- course must be had to a silver catheter, employing all the pre- cautions mentioned above. 7. When the catheter has reached the bladder, detach the irrigator tube and allow about 90 c.c. (three ounces) of urine to escape slowly by checking the stream with the finger over the mouth of the catheter. When this amount has flowed off, inject 60 c.c. (two ounces) of four-per-cent. warm boric-acid solution. Again allow 90 c.c. to escape slowly from the bladder, and repeat the injection of 60 c.c. boric acid. Eesume these alternate slow, small emissions and injections until the fluid that flows from the catheter proves to be clear boric-acid solution. Then in- ject 60 c.c. of boric-acid solution and withdraw the catheter until its eye is just beyond the compressor. This will be manifest by cessation of flow from its mouth. 8. Ee-attach the irrigator nozzle and allow 250 c.c. (one-half pint) of warm boric-acid solution to run through the catheter while it is being removed from the urethra. 9. Urge the patient to retain the boric acid left in his blad- der for at least an hour. 110 THE IREIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. 10. If three hours later the patient cannot empty his blad- der without assistance, catheterize again as above directed. The main purpose of the slowness advocated is threefold : (a) The continuous flow of the warm solution through the catheter, while it is being passed through the urethra, is in- tended, as far as possible, to prevent carrying infection to the bladder. At the same time "its temperature may aid in over- coming the urethral tumefaction and such spasm as may exist. (b) Slowly emptying the bladder gives it better opportunity to regain its muscular tone, which may be seriously impaired by overdistention. (c) Kapidly emptying the bladder to relieve retention may be followed by dangerous hemorrhage ex vacuo. In some very rare cases, great difficulty may be experienced in inserting a catheter, when a second emptying of the bladder becomes necessary. The question of permanent catheterism then arises. It naturally involves the risk of impeding the free escape of pus from the urethra and of infecting the bladder. Equally its omission may allow the congestion of the urethra or of the prostate or both to increase, effectually shutting off the outflow of urine, with all its dangers. In such a rare case it is advisable to provide continuous bladder drainage, with a catheter too small to block the urethral discharge. The presence of the catheter in the urethra and bladder will serve to reduce the thickening of the urethra and of the prostate, if both are congested, as is shown by the free voluntary outflow of urine alongside the catheter in a very few hours. Repetition of catheterization will then not become neces- sary. The easiest and safest method of fastening the catheter in the bladder is the one we owe to Guy on, ^ whose directions are con- densed as follows : 1. Cut two pieces of firm knitting yarn each one metre (about forty inches) long. 2. Fold them in half, and tie the free ends of each separately. 3. Place the strings in bichloride or boric-acid solution. 4. Insert the catheter and so i^lace it that the urine comes ' Guyon : LeQons cliniques sur les Maladies des Voies Urinaires, vol. iii., Bailli^re, Paris, 1897. COMPLICATIONS AND SEQUELS OF GONORRHCEA. Ill from its mouth in single drops. Watcli this dropping for sev- eral minutes; if the urine is occasionally emitted in a little stream, or if it stops entirely, move the catheter either a trifle more deeply into the bladder or an equal distance forward until permanent dropping of urine is secured. 5. Take one of the doubled strings from the antiseptic solution, fold it in half again, and tie it firmly around the catheter, exactly at the level of the meatus (A) (Fig. 36). Then take its two double ends to the side of the penis, hold them together at the coronary sulcus (B') and tie another knot there. Keep this knot at the sulcus (B) exactly half-way between the f renum and the dorsum of the penis. Separate the doubled strings and pass them around the penis, to be tied in a firm knot at the corresponding side (B'). The double string collar thus tied about the neck of the penis must not be tight enough to cause even inconvenience should an erection occur. 6. Tie the second doub- led string (which appears as dotted line in Fig. 36) in the same manner as the first doubled string was attached to the catheter. Place the first knot in the second doubled string immediately in front of the first string and directly op- posite the first knot. Carry both ends of the second string to the knot that completed the coUar (B'). Tie a knot in the second string there. Separate the cords that form the first string as it makes the collar at each side of the knot and pass each end of the second string through the separations. Tie them in a knot upon the first string's knot (B'). Pass the two ends of the second string around the neck of the penis as those of the first string were passed, but in the opposite direction, forming another collar. Close the collar by a knot at B and Fig. 36.— Fastening Catheter into Bladder. (Guyon : " Voies Urinaires.") 112 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHOEA. fasten tlie strings there in the same manner as they were fast- ened at B'. 7. Take up a bunch of hair at about an inch from the root of the penis (C) and twist it into the shape of a moustache. Lay the string alongside of the penis like a rein, and where it touches the moustache, without stretching or moving the penis from the exact median line ; tie it firmly about the root of the moustache. As this knot will envelop the base of a pyramid of hair, it will be likely to slip off ; therefore double the mous- tache upon itself and with another knot fix the rein in place. Fig. 37. — Drainage into Urinal. (Guyon : " Voies Urinaii'es.") Eepeat this procedure with the other rein that hangs from the collar at B', attaching it to C, opposite the first moustache. After so fastening the catheter in place, the condition of the bladder must decide whether continued drainage or interrupted evacuation should be employed. In a general way it may be laid down that if the bladder is infected, continued drainage with continual washing will be necessary ; if the bladder is not in- fected, interrupted evacuation is easily obtained by plugging the month of the catheter with a wooden spigot. This spigot can be removed each time it becomes necessary to empty the bladder. Continuous drainage of the bladder is best accomplished by attaching a rubber tube eight inches long to the mouth of the catheter, and inserting it into the bottom of the tube (D) of a Duchastelet antiseptic urinal, containing a solution of bichloride 1 : 1,000. A similar quantity of the same solution may be poured into the bowl of the urinal, through its opening C, after the urinal is placed between the patient's thighs. The purpose of placing the urinal between the patient thighs is to protect the COMPLICATIONS AXD SEQUELS OF GONORRHCEA. 113 bed, to alloTV tlie patient some latitude in motion and to pre- vent the bending of tlie penis and the catheter it contains, thus insuring its continuous free action. Whether it is determined to employ continuous or inter- rupted vesical evacuation, the penis should be " dressed " in the manner laid down by Guy on. This dressing is made with three pieces of salicylated or carbolated gauze 25 cm. (about ten inches) square. These are folded in half, from one angle to its opposite one, making a triangle of six layers of gauze. The base of this triangle is passed close to the penoscrotal angle, and the two angles at the base are doubled over the penis so that the one projecting to the right of the penis reaches the left side of the pubis, where the strings holding the catheter are tied to the hairs (see Fig. 37). It is firmly attached to this spot with the string that was left hanging there. The angle of the gauze triangle projecting from the left side of the penis is folded over to the right tied moustache and attached firmly to it. The moustache strings are then cut off. The penis is thus com- pletely enveloped by the gauze. To prevent its slipping up- ward, the .angle around the catheter is tied to it by another piece of string. While it is undoubtedly a grave violation of surgical prin- ciples to insert any instrument into an acuteh' inflamed urethra, I must confess that I was driven to it in three cases. In each of these the urethra was lacerated from attempts to pass cath- eters for the relief of retention. No aspirator or trocar was within several hours' reach, and the patients were in acute suf- fering, with high fever. I was fortunate enough to get cathe- ters into these bladders. One remained four hours, another six hours, and the third eighteen hours. Naturally all possible antiseptic precautions were taken. In none of the three cases did vesical infection result, nor was the gonorrhoea materially aggravated from the use of the catheter. Should it be impossible to pass a catheter, after the prelimi- nary- efforts (hot baths, etc.) have failed, it will be necessary to either aspirate or evacuate part of the bladder contents hj a trocar through the suprapubic space. In many cases it will be found that after removal of perhaps one-fifth of the retained urine, the patient will be able to empty the remainder through the urethra, owing to relief from the tension. 114 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. If prostatic congestion causes the retention, catiieters of tlie Mercier curve will be found most useful. Guy on suggested various lengths of beaks and angles at which the beaks are at- tached to the shafts for easier introduction and more comfort- able retention, according to the degree of prostatic swelling. Those most frequently used are shown in Fig. 38. Their press- ure upon the prostate proves valuable, while placing the reten- tion of urine under control. When, however, evidence of pus Fig. 38.— Guyon Beaks of Mercier Catheters. formation in the prostate presents, the abscess cavity must be promptly emptied. Eheumatism (gonorrhoeal).— a somewhat extensive study of the literature of gonorrhoea makes Bransford Lewis appear the first, at least among American writers, to show that infection of the posterior urethra is far more frequent than is ordinarily assumed. This author,' in an interesting and instructive mono- graph, shows that posterior urethritis is almost invariably pres- ent in every case of prolonged or severe gonorrhoea. He further asserts that the gonococci, instead of gradually progressing along •Lewis: "The Role of Posterior Urethra in Chronic Urethritis." Read before the American Association of Genito-Urinary Surgeons, June 21st, 1893, Medical Record. COMPLICATIONS AND SEQUELS OF GONORRHCEA. 115 tlie urethral mucosa to penetrate eventually the compressor in two or more weeks after the onset of the disease, are promptly carried back through the lymphatics. About the same time Kona, of Budapest, made similar assertions, but his thoughts on the subject were presented more tentatively than were the findings of Lewis. The facts exposed by these authors emphasize the need of intravesical irrigations (see page 29) even when gonorrhoea seems to affect only the anterior urethra. At all events, experi- ence shows that when irrigations are properly used, the posterior urethra, if it does not escape invasion, does not show any mani- festations of the disease. Accepting the above author's most reasonable explanation of the etiology of posterior gonorrhoea, it is not surprising that remote regions and organs are often the site of the deposit of gonococci. As mentioned elsewhere, there is hardly a soft tissue of the organism in which modern investigation has not been able to demonstrate gonorrhoeal infection. Among the manifestations of remote gonorrhoeal invasion, rheumatism is at present the most frequently recognized. In the majority of cases it affects only one joint, and among these oftenest the knee. Less frequently the ankle, wrist, and elbow are the site of gonorrhoeal rheumatism. Gonorrhoeal rheumatism is not distinguishable from rheu- matism of other origin. Neither does its appearance, while a patient has gonorrhoea of the urethra, conjunctiva, vagina, or rectum, prove that it is gonorrhoeal. The fever and sweating are usually higher in ordinary rheumatism, except when the af- fected joint becomes the site of pus formation. When rheumatism of any kind complicates gonorrhoea it should be treated as rheumatisms usually are. While this is being done, irrigations must not be interrupted, so that the gonococci, which may be the provokers of the rheumatism, be eliminated as soon as possible. Skin Diseases. — Taylor says that he has many times seen patients with acute and declining gonorrhoea attacked by erup- tions resembling scarlatina, measles, oedematous erythema, and urticaria. In some instances he did not find that gastric dis- turbances due to antiblennorrhagics was the exciting cause. Many other eminent writers have reported such cases. 116 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. Among these Finger' described tliree of gonorrhoea and cystitis complicated by purpura rlieumatica. Buschke/ groux)ing his own observations and those of other writers, " first mentions simple erythema, which usually appears in connection with gonorrhoeal rheumatism, epididymitis, or other localized inflammatory complication. Cases have been recorded, however, of a febrile erythematous rash in gonorrhoea. The second group is made up of urticaria and erythema nodosum. The fact that the latter form of eruption may com- plicate a febrile gonorrhoea shows that it is not a mere appanage of polyarthritis, but is most likely due to the direct action of the gonococcus. The third division of Buschke is made up of hemorrhagic and bullous eruptions. The fourth and last division consists of the hyperkeratoses, and has hardly before been mentioned in literature. Buschke has found a record of four cases which he considers in this con- nection. In a case originally described by Chauffard, for ex- ample, there were horny thickenings upon the feet, back, penis, and insides of thighs, accompanying a general gonorrhoeal in- toxication. ^ Authorities are still at odds as to the explanation of these cutaneous manifestations of gonorrhoea, and several widely dif- fering views are ably maintained in controversy." My own studies of skin complications of gonorrhoea began after I had commenced the use of irrigations. None of the cases so treated from the inception had any dermal trouble. Many of those which had been treated before by internal medi- cation or hand injections or both, had skin diseases. In those in which the skin affections could not be traced to digestive dis- turbances from antiblennorrhagics, they appeared to have no connection with gonorrhoeal infection, except in some of those conditions mentioned under neuroses. Stricture. — -Wossidlo' defines urethral stricture as " a nar- 1 Finger : " Ueber Purpura rheumatica als Komplication blennorrliagisclier Prozesse." Wiener medicinische Presse, Nos. 9, 10, and 11, 1880. ^Buschke: Archiv fiir Dermatologie und Syphilis, Band xlviii., No. 2, most admirably excerpted by the Medical Review of Reviews, July 25th, 1899. ^Wossidlo: Die Stricturen der Harnrohre und ihre Behandlung, Nau- mann, Leipzig, 1898. COMPLICATIONS AND SEQUELS OF GONORRHCEA. 117 rowing of tlie urethral lumen and reduction of its normal dila- tability, produced by organic changes in the urethral walls." Such changes are usually brought about by a gonorrhoea allowed to go on to chronicity through lack of proper treatment or care. Congenital strictures, however, and those provoked by traumatisms (such as the passage of a rough stone) may complicate gonorrhoea as seriously as can acquired strictures. They can, moreover, by the same cicatricial tendency to con- traction, produce all the disastrous results that may follow the latter. Infantile lithiasis, evidenced by painful urination and purulent discharge, containing no gonococci and afterward for- gotten, may often be the cause of presumed congenital stricture. When stricture from internal or external causes complicates gonorrhoea, the disease will persist ordinarily until the stricture is cured. Stricture itself is too vast a subject to be even outlined in a small effort like this ; its influence on gonorrhoea, which is prone to aggravate a pre-existent stricture and to produce new coarctations, is daily evident. The presence of stricture in no wise modifies the treatment of .gonorrhoea by irrigations. When the acute manifestations of gonorrhoea have yielded, the stricture or strictures must re- ceive attention, as will be sketched under the head of Chronic Gonorrhoea. Traumatisms of the Ueethra. — The injuries of the urethra that may complicate gonorrhoea are, besides those mentioned under Foreign Bodies and Hsematuria, such as may be pro- duced by faulty circumcision. M. A. Wasiliew,' citing Bergson, Ploss, and Joly, shows that this operation was performed by the ancient Egyptians and Phoenicians. To-day ritual circumcision is done only by Jews, Mohammedans, and a number of savage tribes. The American and Eussian Jews cut off the preputial in- tegument with a small knife, and tear the mucous fold with the fingers. The knife may injure the glans and the part of the urethra it contains; efforts to split a firmly adherent mucosa with the pulp of the index fingers and thumb nails may tear open the fossa. ' Wasiliew : Die Traumen der manDlichen Harnrohre, Hirschwald, Berlin, 1899. 118 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. In Germany and Hungary, so I am informed, many ritual circumcisers maintain the right thumb nail long and trimmed for the operation; others use a silver ring-shaped attachment with a flat, finger-nail-like projection, to slip over the thumb when the operation is to be performed. At least one of the native tribes, Los Lacantunes, of that region of Guatemala that has been but partly explored, use an obsidian for the same purpose. Bamon Guiteras' is of the opinion that stricture of the meatus is most frequent with those circumcised in infancy. Since having attention called to this point, I searched my records and found that I performed far more meatotomies on those circumcised in early life than on others. If this is not a mere coincidence, it is hardly explicable by nature contracting the meatus to protect the urethra. It seems more likely to be attributable to the crude methods employed by the Mohelim or Mauhelim (ritualistic circumcisers). Every physician who has circumcised many infants knows that the lips of the meatus are found pouting. As the ritualistic circurncisers cut or jjinch off the foreskin close to the meatus, it is readily appreciable how they can remove with it a part of the pouting lips. The resulting cicatrix naturally contracts and so produces the stricture. Among those who present no contraction of the meatus, slight radiating marks suggest the possibility of a small tip of the meatus liaving been removed. Disregard for aseijsis in ritualistic circumcision has caused many, and among them devout Jews, to inveigh against the op- eration. Erysipelas, syphilis, and tuberculosis are frequently reported in support of this objection. In France a sanitary law was passed at the beginning of 1899 prohibiting circumcision, except it be in the presence of a physician. While the intent of this law is manifest, its execution is likely to fall far short of its purpose, as must be evident to those who from sad ex- perience know the -difficulty of securing asepsis in even trained assistants and nurses. Eegarding injuries to the urethra from circumcision, Sascke'' 1 Guiteras : "A Review of the Principal Features of Urethral Stricture." Medical Review of Reviews, January 25th, 1899. '^Sascke: "Betrachtliche Verletzung der Harnrohre." Schmidt's Jahr- bticher, vol. Iv., 1847. COMPLICATIONS AND SEQUELS OF GONORRHCEA. 119 reports a young Jew whose anterior half of the glans was miss- ing. The meatus was at the lower surface, and behind this a second orifice emitted the urine. It seems, however, that in this case the mutilation complicated a pre-existing deformity, A patient referred to me for chronic gonorrhoea had had over four-fifths of the right half of his glans torn off during ritualistic circumcision. The left side of the fossa was exposed. From the right coronary margin three fleshy projections hung. The consequence of this deformity doubtless contributed in making his gonorrhoea most persistent. A most aggravated case of urethral traumatism from ex- ternal violence was in a young man whose penis a prostitute had bitten while, as he said, both were drunk. Singularly enough, the upper surface of the middle third of the penis showed only slight bruises from the teeth; the lower central incisors had evidently been sharper, for they penetrated the urethra and had sunk into the corpora cavernosa. Permanent catheterization was at once employed, but as the wound soon manifested syphilitic infection attempts at repair have thus far proved futile. Injuries to the urethra from within, such as follow violent instrumentation, false passages, tears of the mucosa, may com- plicate gonorrhoea. When irrigations have reduced the inflam- mation and discharge to a minimum, these injuries should be sought by the urethroscope and treated as their especial char- acter may require. Yesiculitis Seminalis (Gonocystitis) . — If Fuller' had done nothing else than develop the pathology and rational treatment of inflammation of the seminal vesicles, his studies of this dis- ease alone would suffice to place the profession under deep ob- ligations to him. With a view to refreshing memory on the precise location of these organs, whose infection is far more frequent than ordi- narily recognized, a schematic drawing may be borrowed from Stewart,^ elucidated with Lewis' ^ concise description of the seminal vesicles which is here condensed : The vasa deferentia ' Fuller : Disorders of the Male Sexual Organs, Lea, Philadelphia, 1896. 2 Stewart : Diseases of the Urethra, William Wood & Company. 2 Lewis : " Seminal Vesiculitis as an Obscure and Elusive Disease." Medical Age, June 25th, 1897. 120 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. carry the spermatozoa from the testicles, through the inguinal canals, into the pelvic cavity, converging behind the bladder and almost touching each other behind the prostate. The seminal vesicles lie against the posterior surface of the bladder, just beyond the convergence of the vasa, which conduct the sperma- tozoa into the vesicles. There the fluid secretion of the vasa keeps them alive. At opportune moments (coitus or nocturnal emission) the spermatozoa are thrown out of the vesicles through the ejaculatory duct, which perforates the prostate, into the pos- FiG. 39.— Location of the Seminal Vesicles (from Stewart's "Diseases of the Urethra "). terior urethra, where they are mixed with prostatic juice, and whence they are ejected by the spasmodic contractions of ejacu- lation. It consequently is clear that the finger inserted into the rectum will feel the seminal vesicles immediately above the prostate and projecting to either side of the bladder. In health, however, these soft little pouches are difficult and often impos- sible to find. In view of the fact that the ejaculatory duct is so short and almost straight, it is strange that seminal vesiculitis does not more frequently complicate gonorrhoea. As, however, acute gonocystitis, as Gouley aptly calls the disease, fortunately tends to resolution, it may be overlooked in very many gonorrhoeas. COMPLICATIOXS AND SEQUELS OF GOXORRHCEA. 121 Moreover, tlie close resemblance of its symptoms to those of posterior urethritis and prostatitis may account for its relatively rare discovery. If every patient with gonorrhoea were subjected to digital examination per rectum, infection of the seminal ves- icles would be better understood and its often disastrous con- sequences avoided. The symptoms may be ushered in by a mere sense of weight in or about the perineum. This soon changes to dull or throb- bing pain in this region and that within the anus and the bladder. Rectal and vesical tenesmus may become very intense. All these symptoms increase while urine accumulates in the bladder ; the pain then may be referred to the region of the glans or the root of the penis, or both. The constitutional disturbance is often quite marked; anorexia, even nausea, may accompany the beginning of the disease, while decided chills and fever may cause an error of diagnosis. Certainty of differentiation, principally from posterior ure- thritis, is obtainable only by rectal examination. The presence of a swollen, painful jjrostate should not be accepted as conclud- ing a diagnosis. The finger passed beyond this gland should seek the seminal vesicles which, if involved, will be found " much enlarged in all directions in the shaj^e of a distended leech, hot, brawny, and exquisitely tender " (Taylor). Further development of the disease can cause a pulpy con- fluence of the vesicles of both sides, rendering their delineation imijossible. They may then appear as if overhanging the pros- tate like a large, flabby mass. With the progress of vesiculitis the patient presents all the appearances of severe illness associated with acute sufferings. The pains in the perineum, rectum, and bladder become intensi- fied, and extend to the sacrum, the coccyx, the hip-joint, down the sciatic nerve, sometimes up to the diaphragm, making even breathing painful. The local pains are increased by urination, which is frequent; but the pain, if there is any after urina- tion, is not so severe nor so prolonged as that of posterior urethritis. Examination of the urine may be misleading, unless speci- mens of the first morning urine or that passed at the end of defecation is used. At other times the urine may appear normal. The properly selected specimen will contain, according to the 122 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. intensity of the involvement, pus corpuscles, red blood corpus- cles, epitlielia from the ejaculatory ducts, epithelia from the prostate, mucous casts, and spermatozoa. Among the latter manj a one will be found with a rounded enlarged head whose pelluciditv has changed to a granular appearance, making the diseased spermatozoon look like a tailed pus corpuscle. If the gonocjstitis is gonorrhoeal, gonococci will be present in the specimen. The greater the chronicitj of the case, the greater will be the number of the fat globules. Fuller {op. cit.) holds that in about one-third of the cases of seminal vesiculitis the disease is tuberculous. "WTiile all deference is due to Fuller's wide researches, this large number of tuberculous invasions of the seminal vesicles does not coincide with the experience of others, that of the present writer included. Still, Fuller's warning should never be left out of mind. Heitzmann {ojj. cit.) always finds prostatic epithelia with microscopic evidences . of gonocystitis, from which he deduces that the prostate is inflamed when the seminal vesicles are. For self-evident reasons (see Fig. 39, page 120) it would be practically impossible for the prostate to escape such infection. But as the disease of the vesicles may overshadow the latter, it may elude observation. Defecation, in seminal vesiculitis, is often as painful as is urination. It may be associated with intense tenesmus of the rectum and of the bladder. Unless sleep is disturbed by painful erections or emissions, it may be very prolonged. Despite its length, the patient is as fatigued when he awakes as when he retired. If the patient has nocturnal emissions, they may be bloody or of a chocolate color, from the admixture of blood. When the ejaculatory duct is not fii-mly agglutinated, the seminal vesicle may be emptied of much or all of its pus by strippings through the rectum. The remainder of the treat- ment is necessarily similar to that advised for prostatitis. If acute vesiculitis does not go on to resolution or is not re- lieved by treatment, it may go over into chronic gonocystitis or abscess may form, with all the dangers of invasion of other structures. Abscess of the seminal vesicles should be promptly emptied through the perineum or the rectum. In making the long free COMPLICATIONS AKD SEQUELS OF GONORRHCEA. 123 incision through the anterior rectal wall for extensive abscess, as advised by Goule j, the cavity should be carefully packed and asepsis of the region observed as cautiously as possible. An attempt to study chronic seminal vesiculitis in such brief form as would be admissible here could not but prove mislead- ing. The reader is therefore referred to the more exhaustive works of Fuller, Gouley, Taylor, White and Martin, and others for clear, complete discussion of the subject. This perfunctory disposal of chronic seminal vesiculitis should not lead to a light consideration of the disease. The vast array of symptoms, direct and reflex, which it produces makes it worthy of most serious attention, as do the dangers to which it exposes the patient. Moreover, when due to gonor- rhoea, as it very often is, it will explain many cases of apparently frequent recurrences of the disease. Indeed, when a presumably fresh gonorrhoea presents in less than two or more than ten days after coitus, the physician would be derelict in his duty if he did not interrogate the seminal vesicles. TJretheo-Peostatio Intectign by the Nogues-Wasseemann DiPLOCOCCUS. —While this form of genito-urinary infection is not a complication of gonorrhoea, it is outlined here for con-, venience of differentiation. This urethro-prostatic trouble may be mistaken for cystitis, urethro-cystitis, and prostatitis. Paul Nogues and Melville Wassermann' describe the etiological microbe which they discovered as resembling the gonococcus in form, dimensions, staining and decolorization by Gram's method so closely that many authors would not hesitate to class it with Lustgarten and Mannaberg's pseudo-gonococci. They insist that all the diplococci so grouped can be differentiated by careful examination. Nogues and Wasserm'ann describe the symptoms of urethro- prostatic infection by their micro-organism in a case from Guyon's service in the Hopital Necker: The patient, aged 42, had no disease except syphilis, con- tracted many years ago. Eighteen months before being treated at the Necker, he had had vague pains in the region of the peri- neum and of the anus. Twelve days subsequently he observed ' Nogu6s et Wassermann : " Infection Ur^thro-Prostatique, due k un micro- organisme particulier." Annales des Maladies des Organes G^nito-Urinaires, July, 1899. 124o THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. an oozing from the urethra. This oozing never assumed the proportions of a true blennorrhoea, he had no painful urination nor nocturnal erections. The only functional symptom was the anal pain mentioned above. For six months he was treated, by washings with boric acid and santal oil internallj'. The next physician he consulted diagnosed prostatitis and employed irri- gations of potassic permanganate and prostatic massage. No change in the condition resulted in the beginning; soon, how- ever, vesical manifestations aj^peared- — the patient urinated every two hours during the day and four times at night. In this condition he sought Professor Guyon's advice. The urethral discharge was then minimal, but a few slightly colored spots stained the shirt; the urine was acid and clear, but the first urine emitted contained numerous dense and heavy fila- ments. The urethra was found in good condition, the bladder of nearly normal capacity. The prostate was in almost com- plete health, but the urine voided immediately after massage was decidedly turbid. In this specimen Nogues and Wasser- mann found their microbe. After an instillation of silver nitrate into the prostatic por- tion by Guyon's method, the urine almost recovered its trans- parence; very careful microscopic examination did not reveal any bacteria whatever, and two tubes of agar and of bouillon sown with the specimen remained sterile. The cure was verified two weeks later by a second bacteriological examination which gave a negative result. The authors, after most exhaustive histological and bacterio- logical series of experiments, including cultures on all accepted media of the turbid urine with an abundant whitish sediment, sum up the characteristics of their microbe as follows : A diplococcus, within and outside the leucocytes, not in specific grouping, readily decolorizable by Gram's method; easily and abundantly culturable on all the ordinary media ex- cept on potato; does not liquefy gelatin, indifferent in the presence of oxj^gen and of rapid growth in anaerobic condition ; apparently with no power to decompose urea. They conclude that the diplococcus they describe is the in- fectious agent of a form of urethro-prostatitis and that it can be thoroughly differentiated from the gonococcus by culture. CHRONIC GONORRHCEA. 125 VIII. CHUONIC GONORRHCEA. Under tlie treatment pursued before irrigations were estab- lished, six weeks was deemed tlie duration of an acute gonor- rhoea. If it proceeded beyond sis weeks, it was considered to have gone over into a chronic condition. This chronicity, however, was often associated with all the symptoms of the acute attack. Goldberg's statistics (quoted on page 1) compiled from the works of all who wrote on irrigations, whether apj)rovingly or disapprovingly, show that ninety per cent, of the patients re- cover within fourteen days. It is therefore equally proper to hold that a case of gonorrhoea not entirely cured within two weeks must be considered a chronic clap. Janet, to whom all the credit is due for popularizing the irrigation treatment, advises a second series of irrigations after the first series, when that has not succeeded. The second series of irrigations with solutions of potassic permanganate as advo- cated by Janet is as follows : First day, first visit, Anterior irrigation 1 : 3,000 First day, 7 p.m. Anterior irrigation 1 : 6,000 Second day, 9 a.m. Intravesical irrigation 1 : 4,000 Second day, 7 p.m. Anterior irrigation 1 : 4,000 Tliird day, 7 p.m. Anterior irrigation 1 : 2,000 Fourtli day, 9 a.m. Intravesical irrigation 1 : 3,000 Fourth day, 7 p.m. Anterior irrigation 1 : 2,000 Fifth day, 7 p.m. i Intravesical irrigation 1 : 3,000 I Anterior irrigation 1 : 1,000 Sixth day, 7 p.bi. Anterior irrigation 1 : 1,000 Seventh day, 7 p.m. Anterior irrigation 1 : 1,000 Eighth day, 7 p.m. \ Intravesical irrigation 1 : 3,000 (Anterior irrigation 1:1,000 In offering the above formulary, no thought is conveyed that it will cure every chronic gonorrhoea. Even if the clap is un- complicated, the solutions may have to be materially modified to meet the individual peculiarities of each case. The solutions advised, however, meet the average cases. Furthermore, this formulary will serve admirably in most gonorrhoeas which appear without acute manifestations (chro- niques d'emhUe, Guiard) and which are so often erroneously called "light attacks." 126 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. Tlie majority of cases, however, require most scrupulous searcli for tlie conditions tliat cause their progression into •chronicity. In an effort like this none but the barest outlines of pathol- ogy can be sketched, and indeed, none of these can find jplace except those essential to an intelligent comprehension of the treatment advocated. The writers who have labored and are laboring so industriously and well in this, the most imjjortant department, of genito-urinary diseases, can receive but scant attention. No lack of appreciation is conveyed thereby. As Oberlaender^ said five years ago : " The literature of chronic urethritis has grown to monstrous proportions." The additions to this literature since then are if anything greater in number than those which preceded Oberlaender's comment; hence the hope- lessness of attempting even approximate justice to the authors. The principal conditions that predispose a patient to the establishment of a chronic gonorrhoea are reduced vital resist- ance, lax urethral mucosa, phthisis, diabetes, phimosis, agglu- tination of the prepuce to the glans, tight meatus, a narrow urethra, deformities of the glans, para-urethral fistufe and re- sidual defects from former gonorrhoeas, " be they ever so minute and often not evident to the inexperienced urethroscopist " (Oberlaender), In many instances none of these predisposing elements are found to explain the progress into chronicity; in. any given case in which this occurs, cure is not likely to be ob- tained until the cause is found and removed. The causes of the transition of gonorrhoea into the chronic state, are summed up by Guiard ^ in his brilliant and exhaustive work on the subject. With slight modification from this author, they may be cited as : (1) congenital or acquired deformities ; (2) the patient's constitutional condition; (3) misdirected or in- sufficient initial treatment; (4) infractions of hygienic precau- tions ; (5) over-treatment. The two first-named have been briefly mentioned above. They are discussed somewhat more in detail in Chapter YII. (Complications of Gonorrhoea). 'Oberlaender: "Die chronischen Erkrankungen der mannlicben Harn- rbhre." Klinisches Handbuch der Harn- und Sexualorgane, vol. iii., Vogel, Leipzig, 1894. - Guiard : Les urethrites cbroniques cbez rbomme, 1898, Rueff, Paris. CHRONIC GONOREHCEA. 127 As outlined under the head of acute gonorrhoea, irrigations to be effective, must be promptly and energetically instituted as soon as possible after inception of the disease. But irriga- tions will certainly be misdirected and thwart the object in view if the physician were to mistake force and violence for promptness and energ}^ The column of fluid, if bruskly sent into an exquisitely inflamed urethra, cannot but damage it; lesions can easily be caused thereby, directly inviting invasion of the deeper structures and thence of the adnexa and the entire organism. Therefore, while all uncomplicated and most com- plicated gonorrhoeas must and should be treated by the general practitioner, none should touch them save those who are char- acterized by innate and carefully cultivated delicacy of manipu- lation. Only those so endowed are able to avoid misdirecting even the best intended efforts. Insufficient initial treatment is likely to obtain in the hands of physicians whose delicacy of touch is above criticism, but who lack adequate firmness of purpose. While these will not sin by injuring the inflamed urethra they, through timorousness, are prone to allow the disease to gain mastery over the infected region. This extreme is quite as reprehensible as the other. An exceedingly frequent element for the production of chronic gonorrhoea, entirely beyond the physician's responsi- bilitj- , is in the hygienic and dietary infractions which patients commit. In Chapter VI. (Constitutional and Accessory Treat- ment) an endeavor is made to outline the hygienic and dietary precautions that are necessary for the successful treatment of gonorrhoea. If the physician, for any reason, cannot obtain such control over his patient that the latter will follow these sim- ple instructions or apx^reciate the dangers of their infraction, he will wisely recommend to him the study of James Foster Scott's' book. Should the patient's inferior intelligence or lack of ap- plication not permit him to grasp the value of Scott's excellent work, he may be advised to read a small effort in the same direction. Its author^ will not object if his name is erased from the article before it is handed to the patient. ' Scott : The Sexual Instinct ; Its Use and Dangers as Affecting Heredity and Morals, Treat, New York, 1899. ■^"Advice to Gonorrhceai Patients." Philadelphia Medical Journal, July 8th, 1899. 128 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHOEA. Excessive treatment cannot onlj^ assure a gonorrhoea becom- ing clironic, but also tends to perpetuate a chronic clap indefi- nitely. In Chapter XIV. (The Proofs of Cure of Gonorrhoea) the indications for discontinuance of treatment are detailed. The local pathological conditions which maintain a chronic gonorrhoea have been and are made the objects of special in- vestigations by an immense array of learned men. To even quote their names and outline their results would require a large volume. For the general practitioner's purpose it may suffice to be- gin the study of chronic gonorrhoea by attaching its cause to: (1) epithelial disturbance; (2) infiltration of the mucosa; (3) in- volvement of the urethral glands ; (4) infection of the adnexa. While precise distinction of the three first-mentioned condi- tions is obtainable only by the urethroscope, it can hardly be expected that any but those with a very large general practice will avail themselves of this instrument of precision. Those who desire to instruct themselves in urethroscopy wdll fijid elementar}^ outlines thereof in Chapter XIII. (Urethroscopy). A studj^ of the symptoms of chronic gonorrhoea is, however, open to even the least experienced. An effort will be made to depict those that are most directly related to therapeutic sug- gestions. For easy reference they are arranged in alphabetical order. Necessarily, with a view to differentiation, this list must include some symptoms not due to chronic gonorrhoea. Absence op Symptoms — see Chapter XIV. (Proofs of Cure of Gonorrhoea). Apparent Asperml\. — Quite a number of patients complain, long after external evidences of gonorrhoea have passed off, that they experience little or no sensation at the conclusion of the sexual act, no matter how prolonged it was. When withdrawing the penis at the feeble conclusion of the act, nothing is seen to escape from the meatus. Manifestly, unless the case be one of true aspermia, swelling of the posterior urethra directs the semen into the bladder, instead as normally, through the com- pressor. The next urination then carries with it the semen that should have been forcibly ejected in coitus. Some of these patients, who are called " trompeurs " (cheat- ers) in French literature, will confess to having employed arti- fices to prolong the sexual act or to prevent pregnancy. These CHRONIC GONORRHCEA. 129 artifices embrace digital compression of tlie urethra, constriction at the peno-scrotal juncture b}^ a rubber band, or a species of mental coercion by means of which the orgasm is arrested just before ejaculation. The first urine passed after such coitus will be found to contain an abundance of semen. Defecation and Ubination Drop. — Very many patients have no discharge whatever, but during or after defecation or after urination a thick white drop appears at the meatus. The man- ner in which this drop appears at once suggests a urination — ■ or defecation — spermatorrhoea. Indeed, these may coexist with the manifestation which I have named as above. Like urination — or defecation — spermatorrhoea, this drop is sometimes attributed to expression of a diseased prostate or posterior urethra, by the pressure of lumps of hard faeces upon these organs in their passage through the lower rectum. The anatomical relations of this region prevent a fsecal bolus, which can at all pass the anus, from exercising sufiicient pressure upon the prostate or posterior urethra to expel their secretions. The fgecal mass, however, if hard, stimulates voluntary contrac- tions of the rectal and urethral detrusors, and these, by forcible compression of the prostate and posterior urethra, cause them to yield some of their contents. Macroscopically, these drops differ from those of spermator- rhoea in not proving tenuous — i.e., they cannot be drawn out in such long filaments. Moreover, they dry in concretions re- sembling phosphatic calculi. When fresh, and pressed or rubbed between two cover-glasses they convey a sensation as if they contained very fine sand. Microscopically, these drojjs show pus in minute quantity, much mucus, epithelium, and occasionally gonococci. The grit- like substance has the appearance of little globules, resembling ■cocci. If acetic or nitric acid is added to them, they dissolve with the escape of bubbles of gas. If spermatozoa are found, the case may be one of pure urina- tion or defecation spermatorrhoea ; their presence, however, does not exclude the coincidence of gonorrhoeal prostatitis or posterior urethritis. Dischaege.— In chronic gonorrhoea the discharge may vary from a slight, glairy excess of moisture, expressible to the meatus with difficulty, to free, continual, or intermittent discharges. 9 130 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. The cliscliarge, whatever its character, may be the only symp- tom which the patient observes. Some patients are singularly indifferent to this manifestation of disease when it gives them no inconvenience beyond filthiness; the majority, however, are mentally distressed, and in consequence physically disturbed, by an excess of moisture that does not even agglutinate the meatus. Whether this is on a purely aesthetic score or due to a specific lasting influence of gonococci toxins on the nervous system, is one of the questions neurologists still have to solve. Whatever the character of the discharge, its contents and origin must be ascertained. Many microscopical examinations may be made without discovering any noxious bacteria. This does not entitle the physician to assert that none exist in the patient's genital apparatus (see Chapter XIV., Proofs of Cure of Gonorrhoea). Whether gonococci, with or without other bacteria, present in the slight or copious, permanent, intermit- tent or recurrent discharge, or if none are found, the origin of the discharge, i.e., the diseased region or regions and the char- acter of the disease, must be ascertained. The discharge itself is not characteristic of its source. While it can be determined by the kind or kinds of epithelia found, it is always well to give equal weight to the clinical manifestations. These are outlined, as are the methods for eliciting them, in Chapter VII., on the Complications of Gonorrhoea. For convenient reference, and until a better arrangement is offered, I submit the following description of urethral dis- charges, which may be : continuous ; in the mornings only ; in- termittent during the day ; intermittent with several days', weeks' or months' interval (recurrent gonorrhoea) ; mixed with the last portion of urine, or immediately after urination (gonorrhoeic and other prostatorrhoea) . In regard to color and consistence, it may be : watery, al- buminoid, rice-water, grayish, thin white, thick white, thin yel- low, thick yellow, thick greenish-j'ellow, thick bloody. These discharges may be mixed, as for instance the grayish discharge may be mottled with spots of white, yellow, or green, or it may be streaked with these colors. I may be permitted to emphasize that this classification of the discharge of chronic gonorrhoea is offered solely for con- venience of recording. CHRONIC GONORRHOEA. 131 A form of discliarge characteristic of prostatic involvement, and not mentioned above, has a tendency to be drawn out in long elastic filaments when taken between the fingers or when removed from the urethra with an instrument. When placed on a cover-glass it curls up into one or more glutinous heaps. When one endeavors to spread these heaps, ihey drag after the instrument with great tenacity. They are difficult to crush be- tween cover-glasses, and require considerable rubbing to spread them with sufficient thinness into a " smear preparation " (Stern- berg) for microscopical examination. Moreover, they require much more time for the air-drying than is usually necessary for flame fixation prior to staining. The microscope shows them to contain many prostatic epithelia and prostatic bodies, in addition to the other elements that characterize the special kind of infection. DiscHAKGEs Simulating Spermatoerhcea. — Guy on and Jamin were the first to point out this symptom of chronic posterior gonorrhoea, which Guiard ' compares to " little ejaculations " {petites ejaculations). It is the sudden, intermittent appearance of -a large drop at the meatus. After the drop has passed to the linen, no more discharge can be expressed from the urethra, unless by persistent " milking " some normal secretion is pro- duced from the pendulous portion. If the patient is not in- formed on the subject, he is likely to consider these discharges, occurring at irregular intervals, indications of spermatorrhoea or of urinary incontinence. The stains on the linen produced by these discharges differ markedly from those made by anterior gonorrhoea. The occa- sional sudden stains are fewer in number and much larger than those of chronic anterior gonorrhoea. Both kinds of spots may appear together. Those ejected from the posterior urethra at irregular intervals generally have yellowish- white centres, with clearer and starch-like peripheries, when they have dried on the linen. Ordinarily the emission of these drops is not accompanied by any sensation; their presence is then not noted except by the moisture at the meatus or on the shirt, which the patients occasionally feel. In some very rare cases the emission of this 1 Guiard: Op. cit., p. 161. 132 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OP GONORRHCEA. drop is associated witli a very brief, somewhat pleasurable sen- sation along tlie urethra, suggesting that produced by the ejacu- lation of semen. Guy on emphasizes that the compressor will not yield to pressure from within until a sufficient degree thereof is exercised, and then urethroprostatic discharge is prevented from flowing into the bladder by the sphincter vesicae. The discharge so re- tained^ distending the posterior urethra, evokes reflex contrac- tions of the ejaculatory muscles. This view is opposed by many authors, but Guiard's' observations fully support it. While this seems the most rational explanation of this symptom, it cannot, however, be compared to the emptying of the posterior urethra in ejaculation of semen. During this act the posterior urethra is suddenly filled with semen, and while the ejaculatory muscles are stimulated to spasm thereby, the compressor in this spasm ordinarily yields intermittently, in concordance with their contractions. As opposed to the normal ejaculations the "little ejaculations," as Guiard designates them, appear to premise an extraordinary development of tonicity of the sphincter vesicae, preventing the urethroprostatic accumula- tion from entering the bladder, which ordinarily is the point of least resistance. This extraordinary condition may explain the rarity of the symptom under discussion. The extrusion of these drops from the posterior urethra certainly proves that a posterior gonorrhoea can persist after the anterior clap has subsided. It^ is undoubtedly important whenever they are present that their origin be ascertained. In this, aside of their macroscopic characteristics mentioned before, the microscope will give the final decision concerning their source, whether they proceed from anterior gonorrhoea, pos- terior gonorrhoea, seminal emissions, or the " after-dribbling " of urine. Excessive Moistube.— In many cases, long after a gonor- rhoea is cured, a watery or slightly gelatinoid excess is visible on opening the meatus, or can be stripped or milked from the urethra. If repeated microscopical examinations of this excess of normal moisture proves it to contain only mucus and normal epithelium, and if no other symptom of disease presents, it 1 Guiard: La Blennorrhagie cliez riiomme, p. 266, Rueff, Paris, 1894. CHRONIC GONORRHCEA. 133 would be exceedingly unwise to subject the patient to any local treatment, no matter liow persistently lie may implore it. The excessive moisture, unaccompanied by other manifesta- tions of disease, may be due to a slight catarrhal condition or to constitutional depression. The latter is often caused by the neurotic state that so frequently is associated with and follows gonorrhoea. Some patients acquire remarkable dexterity in expressing moisture from a perfectly healthy urethra at all times. In do- ing so, they keep the channel in an irritated condition, which ceases as soon as their thoughts can be diverted from continual concentration upon their genitalia. If careful examination positively reveals complete absence of any local ailment, constitutional remedies will be required. Among these, the mixture of tr. cantharid. and iron, recom- mended many years ago by that eminent teacher Otis, will be found effective in the majority of cases. With a view to facilitating the study of excess of moisture, its characters are here offered, preliminary to a better arrange- ment which doubtless will be made later. In volume, the excess may be: expressible with difficulty, i.e., slight in quantity; easily expressible, i.e., in quantity not sufficient to form a drop, but enough to be visible as an excess when the meatus is opened. Li color, the excess may be: thin watery; thick watery; albuminoid, like raw albumen; gelatinoid; grayish; thin white (like milk and water) ; thick white, like cream ; rice-water ; yel- lowish-white ; yellow; watery, white or yellow spotted or streaked; mixtures of any one or more of the above. I repeat that this classification has no other purpose than ease of description. Excessive Sexual Desire. — While the prostate or seminal vesicles or both are in a deteriorated condition from chronic gonorrhoea, or while the urethra still suffers from the disease or its effects, some patients may be annoyed with what they call a " teasing " or " nagging " impulse to indulge in sexual in- tercourse. This may occur without provocation, or in the pres- ence of women who in no wise evoke sensuality, as in a public vehicle. Perhaps it may be well to call this symptom " genesic hypersesthesia, " in order to concisely describe it. An extreme 134 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHOEA. case thereof manifested the following conditions : While at col- lege, the patient, then aged twenty, contracted gonorrhoea, of .which he was apparently cured. At twenty-eight he married, and became the father of three healthy children during five years. His wife was not infected by him. From the time of his only gonorrhoea, he was obliged to undergo continual mental struggles to master the sexual impulse. His business required much dictation to stenographers. In selecting these employees, he gave preference to those least likely to suggest lascivious thoughts. Imagining that the presence of any woman under propitious surroundings aggravated his condition, he eventually employed only men, but soon found that the sexual obsession was ever present, detracting materially from the mental concen- tration his business demanded. A long vacation from his work, and devotion to athletic exercise, brought no relief. He finally had recourse to bromides with but temporary relief, and the re- sult that he became a bromide-habitue. When he was thirty- five years old, he was brought for consultation. The urethra showed a sliglit, hard infiltration close behind the posterior boundary of the fossa; the prostate was somewhat enlarged. Under dilatations of the urethra and prostatic massage for about six months, the conditions materially improved. When the genesic hypersesthesia had subsided so far that it but rarely troubled him, and then only for a few moments, he unfortunately was misled into drinking too much champagne at a dinner. The next day the condition returned in an aggravated form ; he re- verted to large doses of potassium bromide and passed from observation for three months. He then wrote that he could not summon the courage to discontinue the bromide, which he knew would be required of him if he resumed treatment. The majority of cases do not, however, terminate in so un- happy a manner, but yield to the treatment elsewhere discussed. GONOREHCEAS THAT ARE ChRONIC FROM THE INCEPTION. — In some cases the manifestations of gonorrhoea are so slight, and their progress is so insidious, that they appear to have been chronic from the very beginning. These Guiard ' calls urethrites cTironiques d'emhUe. The only symptom may be so slight an oozing from the meatus as barely to attract attention. The ap- ' Guiard: Les Urethrites chroniques cliez I'homme, Kueff, Paris, 1898. CHRONIC GONORRHCEA. 135 parent insignificance of this discbarge lias no relation to the relative number of gonococci it may contain, nor is the pa^tient any the less exempt from complications and sequelae of gonor- rhoea than if it manifested itself in the hyperacute form. I have not observed a case, however, in which a patient's first gonorrhoea began with this sole symptom of chronicity. This may explain the fact that the gonorrhoeas apparently beginning as a chronic disease are more tenacious and resistant to treatment. When the patient denies xjrevious attacks, it may be accepted that his memory may be fallacious in this regard. Therefore it will be well to explore the urethra and adnexa as soon as pos- sible for residua of previous trouble. These must then be promptly and thoroughly treated, however slight they may ap- pear to be. Itching or tickling is one of the most annoying and often one of the most persistent symptoms of chronic gonorrhoea. "WTieu a focus or several foci of infiammation or infiltration can be discovered by the urethroscope, the condition can be relieved by direct applications of silver nitrate or cupric sulphate. When itching or tickling oscillates with varying intensity between spots in the anterior and posterior urethra, it may be due : (1) To both these regions ha\dng diseased foci ; then temporary greater irrita- tion in a focus or foci in the anterior or posterior urethra may obscure that of the less disturbed region; (2) involvement of the seminal vesicles, prostate, or Cowper's glands, from which the irritation is reflected forward. In the latter case urethroscopy may show a perfectly normal channel; (3) fissure of the anus, hemorrhoids, or rectal disturbances. When tickling or itching besets the posterior urethra, it is often referred to the rectum or anus. Such cases are frequently treated for a presumed rectal disease and even operated, natur- ally without result. On the other hand, a fissure of the rectum, especially when near the raphe, may cause urethral tickling or itching. Urethral treatment must then necessarily be fruitless. It is necessary, therefore, most searchingly to explore the urethra, its adnexa, the anus, and rectum when itching or tick- ling in the urethra presents. This symptom is so harassing that the local disturbance seriously affects the patient ; if long continued, it so influences his general condition as to unfit him for his vocation. 136 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. When tlie cause is in th euretlira, it often is so minute that its location is difficult, even by the most careful urethroscopy. Then if all other causes can be excluded, dilatations and irriga- tions fortunately relieve the condition. Meatus, Agglutination of. — In some cases the only mani- festation of chronic gonorrhoea is a cohesion of the lips of the meatus. More frequently still the lips are agglutinated, requir- ing a little force to separate them. When the urethral secretion is a trifle greater than necessary to produce cohesion or aggluti- nation, a little transparent pellicle or even a brownish crust may form from the secretion as it dries between and upon the lips of the meatus. This crust must not be confounded with the one found upon the meatus of uncleanly persons. If the incrustation persists, it may make the beginning of uri nation, especially that of the first morning bladder evacua- tion, quite painful. The urinary stream tears the crust from the meatus and carries epithelium with it. Agglutination and incrustation can be avoided in all cases hj keeping the meatus covered with absorbent cotton soaked in bichloride 1 : 10,000 to 1 : 6,000, or boric acid four per cent. The cotton so prepared is applied after each urination as described under the head of Anterior Irrigations, in Chapter III. The avoidance of this symptom, however, by no means im- plies its cure. A diagnosis is as necessary here as elsewhere. To ascertain its character, a small quantity of the substance that agglutinates the meatus is taken with a sterilized (flamed and cooled) platinum loop and placed upon a cover-glass. If the substance is so dry and hard that it cannot be spread very thinly upon the glass, a drop of distilled water added to it will quickly soften it, so that it can be spread, dried, flamed, stained, and examined in the usual manner (see Chapter XIV., Proofs of Cure of Gonorrhoea) . The microscopical examination of a specimen so prepared will show, in simple urethrorrhcea, epithelium, mucus, and perhaps an occasional leucocyte; in chronic gonorrhoea, all the above, de- formed or thinned epithelia, or normal epithelia, pus cells, gon- ococci, and perhaps other bacteria ; in stricture, when it causes the persistence of a gonorrhoea, all the above, and epithelia with loss of granulation of the epithelial nuclei or epithelia entirely without nuclei; in uncleanliness, mucus, epithelium from the CHRONIC GONORRHCEA. 13T meatus, pus, dirt, and all kinds of bacteria; in consequence of erections, mucus, epitlielia from several parts of the urethra, and spermatozoa. Morning Deop.— This term, like its French congener gouUe militaire, is unfortunately used by many authors as a synonym for chronic gonorrhoea. In reality it is only a symptom, and by no means a constant one, of chronic gonorrhoeal inflammation. When, in this disease, the discharge is continuous, there can be no drop that appears at the meatus, in the morning or after more or less prolonged intervals between urination; nor is a morning drop ordinarily found when the only symptom of chronic gonorrhoea is a stain on the linen. The persistent presence of this drop after a night during which the patient has not urinated, by no means implies that the drop contains gonococci. On the other hand, the absence of gonococci from the drop does not prove that the patient is free from these bacteria. Therefore the appearance of this symptom, which may vary from a clear, colorless, to a gelati- noid, gray, mottled, white or yellow drop, demands not only microscopical examination, but also a thorough exploration of the entire urethra and its adnexa. If the patient with no other symptom of disease than the morning drop cannot come to his physician's office before uri- nating, he should be instructed in the proper manner of taking the specimen on a cover-glass. This he then brings with him for examination. Numerous observations of cases in which the morning drop free from gonococci was the only symptom of urethral dis- ease, have led me to the opinion that its presence is due to the effect of gonococci held in some part of the lower urinary ap- paratus. The most painstaking and exhaustive examination may not reveal the focus of inflammation nor the site where the bacteria are residually held. To establish the presence or ab- sence of gonococci it will be well, in such a case, to irrigate the urethra with silver nitrate 1 : 1,000 or 1 : 500, or mercuric bichlo- ride 1:10,000. The discharge produced thereby can then be examined for gonococci. But whether they are or are not pres- ent, there will be no use in attempting to conquer the morning drop with any of the astringent injections of which so many are recommended. Even in the absence of any special focus of dis- 138 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. ease, the case must be treated by internal massage of tlie ure- thra, as directed when describing the treatment of chronic gon- orrhoea bj^ dilatations and irrigations. Painful Ejaculations. — In those not due to the ejaculatory spasm drawing ujDon nerve terminals compressed in infiltrations of the anterior urethra, the pain may be due to irritation of the chronically inflamed posterior urethra, just as urine, the normal stimulant to vesical contraction, gives pain in cystitis, and as light, the normal visual stimulant, gives pain in iritis. These painful ejaculations, however, are by no means essentially of gonorrhoeal origin. In character they may be lancinating, burning, extending from the meatus to the rectum, or radiating to the testicles and lasting some time after coitus, which may be followed by scalding on urination. They are most frequent in excesses, such as are likely to be committed by middle-aged men in sexual relations with very young women. A most aggravated case in which painful ejaculation was the exclusive symptom of chronic anterior and posterior gonorrhoea, was that of an otherwise normal man, who screamed at the moment of ejaculation and fainted before entire conclusion of the act. Usually the patients with chronic anterior urethritis complain of no pain during ejaculation, or only a slight burning. When the pain is sharp, lancinating, stabbing, and extends to the region of the anus or rectum, chronic posterior urethritis is prob- ably associated with disturbance of the anterior urethra, with or without involvement of the seminal vesicles or prostate, or both. Painful Erections. — These are comparatively rare when ac- companied by suflBcient genesic impulse to overshadow the pain. But there are cases in which erections without sexual desire are provoked by the presence of chronic localized inflammation; they then stretch the tense areas or draw upon them, producing exquisite pain, while increasing the inflammation. Many a man has mere mechanical erections from an overfilled bladder. When the urethra harbors a chronic gonorrhea, the erections are, as a rule, more or less painful. They subside, however, as soon as the bladder is emptied. Painful urination may be frequently evoked in chronic gonorrhoea by abnormally irritating urine, as in oxaluria, from errors of diet, alcohol, coitus, or overexertion. The irritation CHRONIC GONOREHCEA. 139 produced may cause reawakening of tlie dormant inflammation and with it recrudescence or increase of the discharge. Painful urination in chronic gonorrhoea may also be caused by agglutination or incrustation of the meatus, produced by a small quantity of discharge drying upon or between the lips. When sealing of the meatus is very firm, the first urine forced from the bladder may distend the urethra most painfully, until the incrustation is torn off by the stream. This tearing away of the crust is necessarily also painful. "With repetition of the act it rends epithelium from the meatus, leaving the lips denuded, and increasing the painfulness through the heavier incrustation and greater denudation that follow. Decided ulceration of the entire meatus can result, if the condition is neglected. When alcohol or coitus or both have provoked the irritation, they must naturally be forbidden; when oxaluria is the cause, the diet must be regulated ; in all cases, the patient should be ordered to drink large quantities, three or four quarts, of boiled water daily to dilute the urine. Incrustation of the meatus can be entirely and easily pre- vented by causing the patient to keep the meatus continually wet with cotton soaked in bichloride or boric-acid solution as directed where irrigations are described. When the incrustations have formed, pain on urination can be avoided by soaking the penis in hot bichloride or boric solution until the crusts are softened and can be easily removed. Post-Coital Seminal Deibbling. — In some cases, in which coitus is normal, it is followed by more or less copious dribbling of semen from a but partially evacuated posterior urethra. This symptom is likely to occur as an independent manifesta- tion of urethritis ex lihidine. When sexual excesses take place during chronic urethritis, they are the more likely to provoke the same condition. Pkemature ejaculations frequently overshadow the chronic gonorrhoea that causes them, and often indeed are the only symptom of the disease. The local symptom may be merely too brief intercourse before the ejaculation. A more marked form is that in which the emission occurs before intromission, with subsidence of the erection as the penis touches the external female genitalia. In still more aggravated cases, accidentally 14:0 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHOEA. brushing against female garments suffices to provoke the emis- sion, while the penis obtains but momentary turgescence, which may be so evanescent as to pass unobserved. In addition, these patients are usually depressed by fear of consumjDtion from the frequent seminal losses, the dread of the permanent destruction of their sexual powers, and the fear of insanity, which they have cultivated mainly from charlatans' advertisements. The despair of these patients is not often over- come by the physician's assurances. They regain hope only when they observe the beginning of relief from mechanical treat- ment. While this is pursued, the closest attention must be given to the accessory treatment mentioned in Chapter YI. Simulated Anterior Gongrehcea.- — In some cases the com- pressor allows the secretion behind it continually to leak into the anterior urethra, giving the appearances of anterior ure- thritis. The first urine then coming from the bladder may wash out the entire urethra and thus be rendered turbid; the urine following, if it detaches no secretions, may be clear. But the last ounce of urine, forcibly ejected by the concluding efforts, may be rendered as turbid as the first, or more so, by the de- trusor's compression of the diseased organs. If such a patient's anterior urethra is gently irrigated and then examined with the urethroscope, it will prove to be perfectly healthy. Therefore when a case of apparently chronic anterior urethritis does not yield to irrigations, the cause may be found in the posterior urethra. In an extreme case of such a condition, the urethroscope found the compressor bulging forward. Slight pressure upon it with the distal end of the tube caused it to extrude enough secretion to nearly fill one fifth of the tube (30 F.). Stains on Linen. — Numerous patients present stains on the garments as the only evidence of chronic gonorrhoea. When this is the case, in most instances, all endeavors to strip a discharge from the urethra either fail, or bring to the meatus, but not ex- pressible from it, only a slight excess of transparent moisture. Almost invariably these stains on the garments produce more mental distress than the discharge did when it was copious, or the morning drop when it persisted. A patient whose garments become the seat of such stains uses every possible means to impress the physician with their CHRONIC GONORRHCEA. 141 importance as evidence of grave disease. One patient, a not at all ignorant practitioner, whom I had treated for chronic gonor- rhoea, on returning from a visit at midnight, found several spots on his shirt flap when he undressed. He awoke me an hour later, and to prove that he was not cured produced the shirt, with assurance that he intended to commit suicide in my oifice. The color, shape, and appearance of the stains were utterly at variance with those that come from urethral disease. My pa- tient was not convinced, however, until a microscopical examina- tion, made at once, proved a complete absence of bacteria in the stains, which, however, contained an exceedingly large number of well-formed spermatozoa. He subsequently married the lady with whom he had spent the evening; her exceedingly good health and frequent pregnancies finally dispelled the doctor's apprehensions. Some patients bring a formidable laundry bundle to show the harassing spots. One wore a shirt an entire week, during which he examined it hourly while awake ; whenever he found a stain, he encircled it with indelible pencil and in the circle marked the date and hour of its discovery. Other patients cut the stained portions from the shirt flap and attach labels thereto, on which they write the same information. Impatience or derision will not relieve the sufferer's mental distress; reassur- ances regarding eventual cure are equally fruitless. The pa- tients will not obtain mental tranquillity until they cease to find the stains. "W hen the stains are due to an excess of urethral secretion they probably are expelled whenever the secretion has accumu- lated in sufficient ciuantity to evoke slight, unperceived urethral contractions. The excess of urethral secretion may be due to slight post-gonorrhoeal urethrorrhoea, to infiltration of the mu- cosa or of glands, or to stricture. The gross clinical differences between the stains on the gar- ments may be roughly tabulated as follows : Stains from tiretliral Stains from drops of urine Seminal stains : discharge: (as in "after-dribbling," from enlarged prostate, or stricture) : Circular or ovoid. Irregularly shaped ; diffuse. Shred-shaped or band- like. 142 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. Small, with sharply de- Large, with undefined edges. Elevated edges. fined edges. Color same throughout. Centre darker than periph- Varying thickness gives ery. deeper color in spots. As Diday lias sliown, the stains from urethral discharges, very soon after they escape, assume another color than that which they had when leaving the meatus. In the little table .be- low I have added my observations to those of Diday : A colorless discharge produces a starch-like stain. An opaline " " grayish " A white " " yellow " A yellow " " green " A green " " reddish-brown " A red " " mottled dark-brown stain Whatever the origin of the stain, microscopical examination is necessary, not only for the patient's mental peace, but for diag- nostic purposes as well. The stained spot is moistened with a drop of distilled water and rubbed upon a cover-glass. The stain so transferred is air-dried, flamed, colored, and mounted in the usual manner. Even the most minute stains may contain gonococci ; there- fore they should not be lightly considered. The treatment of the condition producing stains on the linen must be directed to its cause. The stains themselves, however, can be prevented from soiling the linen by keeping the glans continually covered with cotton, as directed under anterior irrigations. Urethboscopio Findings. — The conditions of the urethra that sustain chronic gonorrhoea are sketched in the Outlines of Urethroscopy, Chapter XIII. The UEiNE IN CHRONIC GONORRHCEA is made the subject of exhaustive discussion in very many large scientific volumes. Manifestly, then, no more can be attempted here than very rough outlines of the coarser manifestations that are accessible to the beginner in practice and available for rapid office work in large practice. The latter, however, cannot be complete or satisfactory without at least one assistant continually devoted to microscopical research. The urine used for examination should be passed in the physician's office. For convenience, tubes should be kept in CHRONIC GONORRHCEA. 143 quantity as mentioned elsewhere (page 25). Previous to pass- ing tlie urine, the patient's prepuce, glans, and meatus should be cleansed with absorbent cotton soaked in boric acid, so that the urine first passed does not carry into the tube the secretion of balanitis or the diversity of foreign bodies that are some- times found about the glans. Among these Professor Guy on' enumerates mineral dust, coal, wool, silk, linen, hemp, cotton threads, bits of hair, feathers, grains of starch, etc. Some of these, by their presence, may prove decidedly misleading in macroscopical and microscopical examination of the urine. The presence of some of these objects, as visible to the un- aided eye as are the " floaters " mentioned on page 67, become of deep concern to a patient, who, like the majority, observes that at each visit the physician carefully notes them. When they do not proceed from the urethra, they are easily eliminated by the preliminary cleansing mentioned above. Malodorous Urine. — This is frequently the first symptom which patients observe. It sometimes has a fishy odor in chronic posterior urethritis and in tumors of the bladder; an excessively aromatic odor after taking balsams {e.g., santal oil); a violet-like odor— almost a perfume— after taking turpentine preparations, etc. Tui'hid Urine. — If the first urine is turbid it is generally re- garded as evidence of anterior urethritis. This, however, is open to error, as mentioned in connection with a consideration of simulated anterior gonorrhoea. If washing out the anterior urethra produces only clear wash-water and the first urine then passed is turbid, disease of the posterior urethra is fairly well established. If all the urine passed is turbid, it may be due to an inflammatory disease of any part of the urinary tract, except the anterior urethra, whose pus is generally washed away with the first 150 cgm. of urine. Donne's Test. — If the turbidity is caused by pus, the addition of a saturated solution of caustic potash and then twirling the tube, will soon provoke that ropy separation which Donne, who devised the test, called "snotty." This forcible term (rotzig) does not seem to have yet found a more elegant and equally de- scriptive English equivalent. ' Guyon: Maladies des Voies urinaires, vol. i., p. 293, Bailli^re, Paris, 1894. lU THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. If haderuria causes tlie turbiditj^, caustic potash will not sepa- rate tlie clear urine, as above described. Pliospliaturia can show the urine just as turbid as in either of the preceding conditions. A little nitric, hydrochloric, or acetic acid will, especially after boiling the urine, clear it with the formation of bubbles, causing it to resemble champagne. This excess of phosphates may accompany the act of digestion, especially in dyspeptics ; it may follow mental exertion, anger, fright, or apprehension; it is almost always present in prostatic enlargement. Perfectly clear and brilliant urine by no means proves absence of disease. Centrifuging the specimen may reveal slight but positive evidence that some part of the urinary apparatus is affected. Shreds, fakes, filaments, granules in the urine are the symp- toms which bring patients to us long after other manifestations of disease have passed. Eoughh^ these substances found in clear urine or in urine not so turbid as to conceal them, become smaller with approaching restoration to health. With Guyon ("Maladies des Yoies Urinaries ") and Guiard ("Les Urethrites Chroniques ") , I deem the following general classification of these substances carried in the urine the most convenient for ordinary practical i^urposes : Purulent Filaments. Muco-Purulent Filaments. Short. Multiple. Opaque. Yellowish. Fall rapidly to bottom ; dissolve readily and increase turbidity. Easily removable from the urine with plati- num loop. Mucous Filaments. Uniformly transparent. Very much longer. Less numerous, often have ends rolled into a ball, or are serpentine. Not homogeneous, but No opaque spots, often consist of thicker spots, held together by a more transparent sub- stance. Sink slowly and remain Light ; remain in the up- coherent a long time. per part or float on sur- By twirling the tube face of the urine, they can be made to rise from bottom. More difficult to " fish " as Still more difficult to fish, proportion of pus di- minishes. TREATMENT OF CHRONIC GONORRHCEA. 145 Purulent Filaments. Muco-Purulent Filaments. Easily spread iipou cover-glass ; no ten- dency to curl. Microscopically : Large masses of leucocytes, few epithelial cells, no mucus. Tendency to roll into a thick slippery heap or serpentine mass tipon cover-glass. Microscopically : Leuco- cytes, often with equal quantity of altered epi- thelial cells, engiobed in a substratum of mucus. Mucous Filaments. Tendency to roll into a clear, thick mass on cover -glass, where it dries very slowly and then is barely recog- nizable. Microscopically : Never exclusively mucus ; al- ways have some epithe- lial cells, often also a few leucocytes. The omission of bacteria from the microscopical findings in the above table is intentional. They require sejDarate extensive study. It must not, however, be forgotten that the heaviest, coarsest shreds may be free from gonococci, while the finest of short filaments may envelop an abundance of them. The other salient symptoms of chronic gonorrhoea are men- tioned under the Complications of Gonorrhoea, on page 38. IX. TREATMENT OF CHRONIC GONORRHCEA.' Consistent with the character of this little book, theoretical considerations will here be entered into only so far as is neces- .sary to outline the principles upon which treatment is based. For the same reason, space cannot be given to even mention of the many authors' names who have worked and are working so efficiently for the clearer comprehension of chronic gonorrhoea. Naturally no thought can be devoted to those who hopelessly, from preconceived notions or from lack of energy and persist- ence, deem chronic gonorrhoea incurable. It seems in place here clearly to establish my position in regard to what is called by very many practitioners the " Valen- tine method." The success obtained hj those who followed my ' This and the preceding chapter are somewhat elaborated, in accord with the results of two years' increased study and experience, from my article on " Chronic Gonorrhoea " published in the Clinical Recorder for January, 1898. 10 146 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OP GONORRHOEA. writings on the subject makes this designation doubly flatter- ing to me. But those who employ the term, even for mere con- venience, do an injustice to others, principally Oberlaender of Dresden and Janet of Paris. To Oberlaender belongs all credit for initiating and systematizing the use of dilators ; to Janet is due all credit for methodizing and popularizing irrigations in the profession. The study of and experience with both meth- ods led me to simplify and combine them. Since early in 1895 I began to teach the combination, but always emphasized the fact that it is based upon combination and a series of modifi- cations of the methods advocated by the gentlemen whose names are mentioned above. For practical purposes it is convenient to detail the treat- ment of chronic urethritis, of which less than ten per cent, are of other than gonorrhoeal origin, in describing the instruments employed. The finer pathological considerations upon whick the treatment is based can be studied in the more extensive works on the subject. The local treatment to be followed in a given case is pre- dicated upon the conditions that present. 1. If the affection is superficial it will yield to irrigations, as described on page 18. Ordinarily one series, requiring eight days of such irrigations, will suffice to cure the case. Oc- casion ally a repetition of this series of irrigations will be re- quired. 2. If the urethritis causes structural changes of the mucosa, or involves the deeper tissues, or has invaded the ducts of the crypts, glands and follicles of the channel, dilatations will be required for their. own effect. The manner in which these dila- tations are performed is described on page 160 et seq. 3. If the urethritis depends upon invasion of the crypts, glands and follicles, these will have to be slit, curetted, or de- stroyed by electrolysis before the materies morbida they con- tain can be liberated. Similar treatment is required when diverticula or false passages complicate the case. 4. If neoplasms are the cause of the urethritis, they must be removed in accord with modern surgical principles. 5. If the urethral adnexa are involved, they must be treated as outlined under complications (Chapter VII.). The urethroscopist has a decided advantage over the phy- TREATMENT OF CHRONIC GONORRHCEA 147 sician who does not use tliis instrument, which exposes to sight the urethral disturba,nce. The patient has still greater advan- tage, for when the urethroscope is used treatment can at once be directed to the conditions found. Until the physician has familiarized himself with the ure- thral appearances, his methods will necessarily be tentative. The diagnosis, then, being by a slow process of exclusion, is obtained by successive failures in treatment. Superficial Invasions of the llucosa.- — The quantity, color, and consistence of the discharge, the presence or absence of specific • bacteria, do not indicate the depth of the structural invasion. The epithelia contained in the discharge and in the urine, how- ever, are valuable guides thereto ; but their differentiation pre- mises a degree of special microscopical training whose acquisition cannot be too highly recommended. The microscopical findings, it must be remembered, are subject to great variability, often due to extraneous circumstances. Recognizing this, the most experienced microscopist will not decide on the absence of gono- cocci, in a given case, before making at least ten examinations of specimens, each taken at one or more days' interval. The presence of many gonococci in a case of chronic ure- thritis does not necessarily convey that the disease has made deep ingression, or that serious structural changes exist, or that the adnexa are involved. Obversely, a specimen containing but few gonococci does not bear evidence that the case is a light one, or that it will respond readily to treatment. Ordinarily a patient, the superfices of whose urethra are the site of the disease, may be expected to recover promptly after one, or at most two series of irrigations. These failing, the physician who has not assured himself of the condition by means of the urethroscope must conclude that deeper tissues are invaded, a fact which he could have established weeks be- fore, had he examined the urethra. He will then proceed, as he would have done at once, to dilatations. Structural Changes of the Blucous Superfices, the Deeper Tis- sues, or the Gland Ducts.— DeBpiiQ the marked pathological differ- ences between the conditions here placed together, their grouping is warranted by the fact that their efficient treatment is almost identical. As long as men have written on urethral diseases, drugs of all kinds have been proposed for the treatment of 148 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. these conditions and tlie others that maintain urethral dis- charges. The absurdity of expecting remedies injected into the urethra to cure changes in its structure does not seem to be yet quite evident to all. Indeed, even to-day a medical journal rarely appears without at least mention of one drug or formula advocated to cure chronic gonorrhoea. Occasionallj^ in con- sequence of vigorous advertising by the manufacturer, a drug acquires considerable vogue for a while. Soon it sinks into merited oblivion, to which it is relegated even by those who strenuously urged it. Mechanical methods, too, have their advocates, and have had them for a long time. Many proved utopian, but most of these have the merit of leading to the use of dilators, which for fully fifteen years have proven effective in the hands of those who conscientiously employ them. Regarding the dilatation treatment of chronic urethral dis- eases, Oberlaender' says: "As to the principle itself, upon which instrumental treatment is based, all agree that the pur- pose thereof is to stretch or burst infiltrations, be they hard or soft, by means of superficial or subcutaneous injury thereof." He further says that the end in view can hardly be attained with sounds, owing to the very frequent disproportion between the calibre of the meatus and the urethra. Moreover, the in- sertion of sounds sufficiently large to produce an effect upon the diseased areas is often painful ; indeed even after the widest possible meatotomy it is frequently infeasible. Some of the above facts which Oberlaender mentions, led him to work for a number of years with insufficient spring in- struments. Accidentally an Otis divulsor then fell into his hands ; in the course of time Oberlaender constructed a number of modifications thereof, suited for every zone of the urethra. While a sense of justice compels unsparing credit to Ober- laender for his modifications of the dilators and his systema- tization of the treatment of chronic urethritis, and while he must be unqualifiedly acknowledged as the founder of the modern and rational treatment of this most frequent and erst- while obstinate disease, an honest difference of opinion regard- ' Oberlaender : "Die chronischen Erkrankangen der mannliclien Harn- Tohre." Klinisches Handbuch der Haru- und Sexualorgane, vol. iii., Vogel, Leipzig, 1894. TREATMENT OF CHRONIC GONORRHOEA. 149 ing the principle on which it is based may be allowed. Experi- ence and careful observation do not seem to make it necessary, nor is it at all obvious from his practice and writings, that the effect of dilatations is due to the stretchings or bursting of infil- trations. Their effect, on the contrary, seems due to the dynamic influence which Guyon so graphically attributes to sounds that lie loosely in a strictured or infiltrated urethra. It is within the experience of every practitioner that a urethra which easily admits a No. 1, 2 or 3 F. sound will, if the sound is left in situ, allow a No. 5, 6, or larger calibre to pass readily in twenty-four hours. After the same interval the patient finds that he emits a larger urinary stream, with less need of aid from abdominal pressure than before. The presence of the small sound lying loosely in the stricture therefore must induce a species of "retrograde metamorphosis," if this term may be so applied to the changes in the infiltration itself, that permit a part of it to be carried off. Inadequate and elementary as this explanation is, it is offered as an introductory to the study of the "dynamic influence " (Guyon) of instruments in the urethra and to the effect of dilators in chronic urethritis, as established by Oberlaender. His terms to " stretch and burst infiltrates " are thereby materially modified, as are whatever of violence or painfulness they may convey. Indeed, he does the same thing in urging gentleness in instrumentation and very gradual in- crease in dilatations. The gentleness necessary in dilatations is practically em- phasized when a very narrow canal or urethral hypersesthesia prohibits the introduction of a dilator. Either condition must then be overcome by the preliminary use of flexible bougies, always selecting one that will readily glide through the urethra without producing pain. The limit of usefulness of these bougies is reached, usually at 18 or 20 F. when an Oberlaender dilator can be readily and painlessly inserted. The preparatory treatment of the urethra by flexible bougies is subject to the same rules that govern the use of dilators. The practitioner will do well, however, to recall the precautions necessary for aseptic and thorough, albeit painless work with these instruments. Previous to the introduction of any instrument, every effort should be made to prevent carrying with it infection into and 150 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. from one part of tlie urethra to another. Naturally, in the light of our present knowledge, no pretence can be made to rendering the urethra aseptic; yet every precaution must be employed to reduce the danger of infection. Cleansing, preliminary to urethral instrumentation, is most easily performed by irrigation of the channel as described on pages 12 and 18. When, as at a distance from the office, no irrigator is at hand, urethral wash- ings may be performed with large hand syringes, such as are known as the Guy on or Janet syringes. Dilators are inserted into the urethra in the same manner as are most other instruments. The penis, held erect in the left hand, causes the pendulous portion of the urethra to form an ap- proximate right angle to the mesian line of the body. The fossa navicularis (scaphoid fossa) forms an obtuse angle with the ure- thra. Therefore an instrument to easily enter the ca,nal should be guided first through the fossa in the direction of its lumen, then turned upward, to pass into the urethra. It may meet an excessively developed lacuna magna, which may receive the point of the instrument, and, if violence is employed, expose the patient to the dangers of urethral laceration. This danger is the greater the smaller the instrument employed. The lacuna magna is situated in the upper urethral wall ; therefore, to avoid it, the instrument should here be guided along the floor of the canal. All works on surgery that have been searched on the matter of urethral instrumentation, except a paper by Murcell,^ urge that the passage of an instrument throughout the anterior urethra must be along its roof, where it will meet with few or no rugosities. In theory this course seems correct. But the sur- geon's concentration being directed to the roof of the urethra, he can allow the rugae of its floor to escape the attention of the instrument which at the time is prolonging his tactile sense. Minute study and extended experience will make plain the great- er safety and ease of adopting a diametrically opposite course. The smallest damage that can then be done is an interference with the easy passage of the instrument. This can be at once remedied, and it will be almost automatically done, if the tip of the instrument is made to hug the floor of the urethra. Then *H. Temple Murcell : "Some Points in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Urethral Stricture." Treatment, July 27th, 1899. TREATMENT OF CHRONIC GONORRHCEA. 151 the most minute impediment to its onward course causes the surgeon to withdraw the instrument ever so slightly and point its tip toward the roof enough to easily override the obstacle. In this manner urethrospasm, which would interfere with the work, is avoided, as is laceration of the urethra. We are also urged to avoid the floor of the bulbous portion and the region beyond, as it is the urethra's least supported part, and therefore the one most exposed to injury. Again, in this regard a difference in opinion and practice from that of our justly most honored colleagues in the specialty, may be per- mitted. Greater safety to the region lies certainly in seeking it, with that exquisite gentleness which must characterize all genito-urinary work. Thus, if it be kept in mind that the sinus of the bulb may be quite a pouch and this obstacle to the in- strument's progress be carefully sought, a slight withdrawal of the instrument and raising its point to override the opening of the pouch are more likely to lead to success than timorous avoidance of the region. AVhen the compressor is passed, how- ever, the point of the instrument must hug the roof of the pos- terior urethra, which here is the channel's true "surgical wall," to avoid contact with the sensitive caput gallinaginis and the mouths of the ducts that open in this region. All dilators, except those provided with an irrigating device, are clothed with a rubber cover before their insertion into the urethra. Excellent covers for all the dilators are made accord- ing to my directions, by the Miller Eubber Manufacturing Company, of Akron, Ohio. These covers differ from those of European manufacture essentially in being about one millimetre greater in calibre and in being finished with a smooth, instead of a ribbed, surface. The greater calibre permits their easier adjustment to and removal from the dilators; their smooth sur- face makes the insertion of a dilator as painless as the correct introduction of a solid instrument with a highly finished, nickelled surface. Clothing dilators with these new covers is performed by grasping the mouth of the cover with the left fingers and drawing the cover over the dilator. This can always be done with ease if the cover is thoroughly dry. No attempt should be made to apply a cover if it retains the slightest moisture from steriliza- tion. 152 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. Although the element of expense has no weight in aseptic considerations, it is well to remember that the price at which these covers are furnished makes it quite an economy to throw them away after one use, in preference to devoting the time, labor, and cost of materials to their resterilization. But, unless the covers are bought in a sterilized condition and enclosed in glass tubes, they should be sterilized before each use. To this end they must be scrubbed in boiling water with soap, each one then wrapped in a sterilized gauze napkin and boiled seven minutes in a one-per-cent. carbolic-acid solu- tion. They may then be left to dry for use. Easier still is dry sterilization in formalin fumes, after scrubbing with soap and hot water. After sterilization and drying, if the wet method is employed, the covers must be placed in a long shallow glass or porcelain tray, closed with a tight-fitting lid of the same ma- terial. Beneath and upon each layer of sterilized covers a liberal quantity of finely powdered, sterilized talcum is dusted. If the gauze napkin is left open at the orifice of the cover, enough talcum will enter to keep its inner surface dry and facili- tate its gliding upon and from the dilator. After a dilator is clothed with its cover, the instrument is struck several times upon the gauze napkin that enveloped it. The napkin is folded or crumpled in the left hand to receive these blows by means of which any talcum adhering to the cover's outer surface is removed. After clothing the dilator smoothly and assuring himself that folds are nowhere formed, the operator violently turns the screw at its handle, as if to forcibly burst the cover. When the branches of the dilator are so expanded to their fullest extent, every part of the cover is carefully examined for minute orifices. In new, well-made covers these will not be found. It is mani- festly better that, if a cover contains holes or can be burst by the dilator, this be learned before it enters the urethra. A de- fective cover inserted would permit urethral secretions to enter the delicate joints of the dilator, and, what is far more impor- tant, endanger the urethral mucosa to being grasped and injured by the dilator's branches. When the above tests of the cover's good condition are com- plete, it is lubricated from its point to half an inch along its shaft. The material experience has shown most useful for this TREATMENT OF CHRONIC GONORRHCEA. 153 purpose is lubrichondrin, made according to Professor Bangs' direction. It is composed of the gelatinous substance of clion- drus crispus (Irish moss) to which eucalyptus oil 1:1,000 and formaldehyde 1:1,500 are added. Lubrichondrin is sold in collapsible tubes and in glass-stoppered salt mouths. The former can be resterilized by boiling the closed tube in water. In using a tube its bottom is compressed to force out the con- FiG. 40.— Lubricating the Meatus. tents, of which the necessary quantity can be placed directly upon the dilator cover. When the bottles are used, about a sixth of a drachm of lubrichondrin is poured into a sterilized Petri dish, whence it can be readily taken upon the point of the dilator. Unless the physician is ambidextrous, it will be well for him to stand at the right side of the table upon which the patient lies. The meatus being cleansed with cotton and bichloride, and the urethra washed as directed in this chapter, the penis is held as before suggested, and a part of the lubricant smeared upon and between the opened lips of the meatus by drawing one side of the covered dilator over them. Then the dilator 154 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. may be inserted. In doing tliis, no force whatever should be employed. When a dilator for the anterior urethra is used, it is best held as if it were a pen grasped for writing. "While fol- lowing the suggestions before made, until the posterior bound- ary of the fossa navicularis is passed, the right hand exercises Fig. 41.— Oberlaender Anterior Dilator. a species of restraining force to prevent the weight of the in- strument violently plunging it into the urethra. The selection of a dilator is necessarily predicated upon the location of the disease and the calibre of the urethra. If the anterior urethra alone requires treatment and the urethral calibre is still small, Oberlaender's anterior dilator is used. This in- strument has a slight curve near its tip, to readily accommodate it to the normal curve of the anterior urethra. The tij) is rather small, permitting its insinuation through a stricture so narrow that it will let no instrument beyond 10 F. pass. The smallness of the tip should be well kept in mind when using this instru- ment ; if the greatest of gentleness is not employed, it may en- gage in a mucous fold, a wide open duct mouth, or a previously made false passage. The instrument will then not proceed. The slightest force employed is likely to produce serious ure- thral laceration. When an obstacle of any kind impedes the easy progress of the dilator, the instrument must be immedi- ately withdrawn and a successive systematic series of other directions given its point. With well-developed tactile sense, however, the surgeon is enabled by gently touching all parts of the obstacle to form a clear mental picture of its character. When the point of the instrument has found the correct urethral lumen, it will easily, smoothly glide to its destination, unless again impeded by further obstacles. These then will have to be overcome in the same manner as the first. Greater safety from injury to the urethra is obtained by in- serting the Oberlaender anterior dilator by a technique similar to that employed in introducing dilators for the posterior ure- thra, which will be detailed in discussing these instruments. TREATMENT OF CHRONIC GONORRHCEA. 165 The curve of the Oberlaender anterior dilator being the nearest approach to that of the anterior urethra therefore exercises the most direct pressure upon its roof and floor without distorting the canaL This consideration of the urethral curve is unneces- sary when the channel is or has become sufficiently capacious to easily admit the Kollmann anterior dilator, which is described below. The steps of inserting the Oberlaender anterior dilator are as follows : 1. The patient lies on a firm table with his legs extended and a sterilized towel placed upon his abdomen covering the pubis, another over his testicles and thighs. The penis rests upon the latter towel. 2. After the penis has been cleaned, the glans is taken be- tween the left thumb and index finger. 3. The penis is gently placed in the direction of the right thigh, in a line continuing the left Poupart's ligament. 4. The clothed Oberlaender anterior dilator is then taken as Fig. 43.— Maimer of Holding DUator. before described, like a pen, with the face of the dial resting upon the interspace between the right thumb and index finger. 5. The tip of the instrument is inserted into the meatus. 6. After overcoming the angle at which the fossa stands to the urethra, the penis is drawn over the dilator, as a glove is drawn over a finger, but far more gently. The tip of the instru- ment is so guided along the floor of the urethra until the bulbous 156 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. portion is reached. The surgeon then experiences a sensation of reduced resistance at the instrument's point. 7. Without increasing the pressure, but keeping the tip im- mobile, the surgeon carries the penis containing the dilator in about a three-quarter circle in the same plane, around and be- yond the patient's left side, until the dial of the dilator faces the linea alba at its commencement above the pubis. 8. Keeping the tip within the bulbous portion, the dilator is now gently tilted from the floor to the roof of this region, and Fig. 43.— Patient In Position During Dilatation. the penis with the dilator raised until it stands at right angles to the body. 9. The patient's elbow, either right or left, is rested against his side to steady his arm. He is then asked to grasp the dilator, where its cover projects from the meatus, and hold it in this position. 10. If the dilatation is to be in prolonged session it will materially contribute to the patient's comfort to raise the back of the table to about forty-five degrees and elevate its feet. I find the tables made by the Allison Compan}^ most convenient for the purpose, as well as for all other genito-urinary work done in the office. TREATMEISiT OF CHRONIC GOXORRHCEA. 157 Furtlier manipulations with tlie Oberlaencler anterior dilator do not differ essentially from those to be described in discuss- ing tlie other dilators. KoUmann's^four-branched dilator for the anterior urethra is intended for use when the urethra's capacity is, or when previous dilatations have brought it to 21 r. The technique of its employ- ment is the simplest of all dilators. After the dilator is clothed with its cover and lubricated, the penis is held in erect position by the left hand. The di- lator is slowly inserted, observing the general rules before mentioned. The dial may be placed in any direction, as the instru- ment when closed is per- fectly round. The one of choice will naturally be that in which the light strikes the dial, so that the figures thereon can be easily read. Oberlaender's Benique- curve dilator exercises pressure only within the Mi^^ posterior urethra. The technique of its insertion is as follows : 1. Follow all the steps, from 1 to 8 inclusive, laid down for the introduction of the Oberlaender anterior dilator. 2. When the tip of the instrument has been raised to the roof of the bulbous portion, guide it gently through the compressor, while letting the handle sink between the patient's thighs. In this motion, contact of the tip with the delicate and sensitive structures at the floor of the posterior urethra is avoided. 158 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHOEA. Undeniably brilliant results are obtained in affections of the posterior urethra from the use of tliis dilator, without disturbing the anterior urethra. In the premature ejaculations due to irritability of the posterior urethra from masturbator's chronic hypersemia, it often exercises a decided salutary effect. But it is not an instrument that can be recommended to any save those whom large experience has made familiar with intra-urethral work. 1 The very great Benique curve, alarming ^ as it may appear to the patient, allows the g instrument to lie very easily in the urethra, i without making any traction whatever upon ^ its normal bend. But this very curve and. ^ its small tip make its introduction safe only % in trained hands. a Kollmann's four-branched dilator for the 2 bulb and posterior urethra is a much safer I instrument to use. It cannot, however, be 3 employed through an anterior urethra w^hose § capacity is less than 21 F. Its large tip ex- I eludes the danger of injury, unless violence ^ is employed. Its Guy on curve, about one- § half of that of the Benique, does not exer- g cise any appreciable traction upon the ure- 1 thra, while its great weight adds to the § ease of its introduction. The technique o thereof is the same as that laid down for 2 the Oberlaender posterior dilator. Oberlaender's curved dilator for the pos- terior and anterior urethra is used when both these regions require dilatation. The technique of its introduction is identical with that directed for the Oberlaender Be- nique-curve dilator. The angle at which it is depressed between the thighs governs the dilatation that is to be done within the bulbous portion or beyond. Dilatation of the anterior urethra is accomj)lished at the same time. Kollmann's four-branched Guyon-curve antero-posterior TREATMENT OF CHRONIC GONORRHCEA. 159 dilator is applicable wlien botli uretliras require treatment and permit tiie passage of an instrument over 21 F. The technique of its insertion does not differ from that before described for the instruments intended for these regions. * Kollmann, whose ingeniousness seems to have no limit, also devised irrigating dilators (Fig. 49 and 50). They are used without rubber covers. Surgical cleanliness of these irrigating dilators is obtained, according to the author's directions, as follows : 160 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. 1. Place the dilator into absolute alcohol for an hour before use ; then pass it over a flame, burning off all the alcohol that adheres to it. 2. "When the dilator has grown cool, stand it upright in a tall vessel and force boric acid through its canals. 3. Previous to inserting it into the urethra, pass a sound and leave it there for a few moments. 4. Anoint the dilator freely with glycerin before inserting it. 5. After use, scrub the dilator vigorously with soap and water. After having dried it, cleanse with benzin applied by means of a tooth-brush, and then with absolute alcohol. These dilators, when inserted, have a short rubber tube at- tached to one of their nipples and a long one to the other. The short tube is connected to a syringe by means of which the irrigation fluid is forced through the dilator into the urethra and gathered by outflow channels to the long rubber tube, which conducts it to a vessel below the table. In exceptional cases this immediate combination of dilatation and irrigation proves useful. But the instruments, from their very construction, require the hands of the specialist for their use. The technique of dilatations is the same for all dilators, viz. : 1. After the instrument is in the necessary position, so that the region known to be diseased embraces the branches of the dilator, it is held motionless long enough to allow the discom- fort of its presence to pass off, if such discomfort is experienced at all. This varies from a few seconds to half a minute. Dur- ing this time the penis is held steadily by the left hand and drawn out its full length, while the right hand keeps the dilator immovably in its position. 2. Grasp the penis with the four left fingers and palm, and extend the left thumb to the ring at the dilator's handle, thus holding both the penis and the dilator immovably together. 3. With the right thumb, index and middle fingers take the large screw-head or disc at the handle of the dilator and very gently turn it to the right. Continue this until the first slight resistance to its easy progress is felt. 4. If the patient is not extraordinarily timorous, it will then be well to entrust the dilator to him for a few moments. It occupies his attention and remeves any apprehension he may TREATMENT OF CHRONIC GONORRHCEA. 161 Lave of pain tliat may be produced. At tlie same time it avoids cramping the surgeon's fingers whicli would interfere with further delicate dilatations. The patient may be instructed to avoid cramp by holding the dilator with the other hand, when the one grows fatigued. 5. At the first seance leave the dilator at the first point of resistance for from three to five minutes, unless an especially spongy mucosa, as evidenced by bleeding, urethrospasm, hyper- sesthesia, or fear of pain, obliges its removal before. • 6. Close the dilator's branches by very slowly turning its screw-head to the left. In doing so, watch the dial and turn the screw-head no further than to leave it open one-half or one number F. to preclude the very remote and most unusual, but possible, accident of a collapse of the rubber cover permitting the branches, if closed entirely, to grasp the urethral mucosa. 7. Remove the Kollmann anterior dilator by drawing the penis back with the left hand and at the same time drawing the dilator from the urethra with the right. Remove any one of the other dilators by tilting the anterior margin of the instrument as if to dip it into the umbilicus ; the penis will then drop be- tween the legs, after the urethra has painlessly slid from the rubber cover. 8. After each dilatation, irrigate the region that was invaded: i.e., after an anterior dilatation, irrigate the anterior urethra; after a posterior dilatation, irrigate the bladder. The solution most frequently employed for this purpose is potassium per- manganate 1 : 6,000. In some cases this proves quite irritating after dilatation; then it may be used at one-half this strength, tIz., 1 : 12,000 or four-per-cent. boric-acid solution may be sub- stituted. When the urethra harbors many other bacteria besides gonococci or without them, silver nitrate 1 : 5,000 or 1 : 3,000, or stronger if it can be borne, will be found effective. Irrigations should never be omitted after dilatations or in- deed any urethral instrumentation. Without them, the dis- charge is materiallj^ increased and often persists several weeks. Pain on and even between urinations may become quite severe and all the appearances of a new gonorrhoea may set in. The cause thereof is evident. If gonococci are squeezed from the mouths of ducts or from structural interstices, they may infect urethral regions that had returned to the normal state or that 11 162 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. had remained free from infection. Tlie results of omission of irrigations after instrumentation, if they portend nothing further, would entail a delay in dilatations until the reawakened acute condition has yielded to additional treatment. But another greater and more immediate danger attends omission of irrigations ; that is, urethral fever (" catheter fever "). It will suffice to say here that since making it an inflexible rule to irrigate after each instrumentation, not a single case of ure- thral fever has resulted. Frequently on the morning after a dilatation followed by irrigation, the patient will find a slight increase of the discharge. If this continues until the second morning, the urethra should be again irrigated on that day ; rarely will a third irrigation be required. The frequency of dilatations, the amount of dilatation and its duration at each seance, must necessarily be governed by the condition of each case, the toleration of the patient, and the results of the preceding dilatations. A good average working rule to keep within the limits of safety is : (1) Begin with two dilatations weekly ; (2) increase each dilatation one-half number F. over the preceding num- ber reached; (3) prolong each seance two minutes. The longest seance, however, a patient can generally endure is forty -five minutes. Therefore when the seances have reached this limit, the dilatation desired must be attained within this time. Variations from the above may become necessary : 1. When the increase of discharge persists, as it may in very rare cases, beyond three days. It must then be controlled by irrigations. 2. When marked improvement in the general and local con- dition shows that the intervals between dilatations may be ex- tended. Experience has shown that recurrences are most likely to result when the intervals between treatments are too sud- denly made. Therefore the extension must be gradual. Thus, for instance, if a patient was treated on Mondays and Thursdays, and it be determined on a Monday to extend the intervals be- tween his visits, a risk would be incurred by asking him to omit the treatment for a week. Therefore the next appointment is made for Friday. If then he is found in continued improve- TREATMENT OF CHRONIC GONORRHCEA. 163 ment, tlie following visit is set for "Wednesday, and eacli inter- val increased by one day in tLis manner. 3. When it is found that the usual increase of dilatation by one-half F. over the preceding number, or even the preceding number itself cannot be reached without producing even slight pain, the patient may explain the condition by an intercurrent digression into the paths of Venus or Bacchus or both. "With- out such an occurrence the preceding dilatation may have pro- duced a temporary swelling of the mucosa, which readilj^ sub- sides. The physician, when such an impediment presents, contents himself by dilating as much as possible, without pro- ducing any discomfort. He may confidently reassure the pa- tient that the time lost by delay in progress or even in decrease of the progress will be regained in a few sessions. 4. When a spongy mucosa, as shown by blood oozing from the meatus, a reawakened hyperesthesia or urethrospasm com- mand the removal of the instrument before the time required for the day's dilatation, the latter must be abbreviated. 5. When a dilatation is followed by oozing of blood from the meatus, bloody urination, or pain, the subsequent dilatations must be increased by but a quarter number at each session. If even this slow procedure is still followed by any of or all the dis- turbances mentioned, it will be well to substitute flexible bougies for the dilator until the use of the bougie no longer produces the objectionable symptoms. The bougie selected must be five numbers F. less than the last dilatation. Thus if the number reached by the dilator was 25, the bougie to take its place must be 20, or a size as much smaller as will g^ide through the urethra easily and painlessly. While, as a rule, the increase of dilatation at each session of one-half number F. is not interrupted, this increase should never be obtained by force. Nor should the beginner attempt to ex- ceed this, even when no resistance whatever presents thereto. Those most experienced in dilatations prefer the slow progress, because of the greater safety it assures. The best practice is to stop dilating at the number last reached or at the first slightest resistance, and then at from three to five minutes' intervals to dilate at no more than half numbers, or up to slight resistance, until the number desired for the day is attained. 164 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHOEA. When a patient observes his improvement under dilatations, lie is likely to urge more rapid advances than above directed. Such patients, when not watched, are tempted to surreptitiously give the dilator's screw-head a rapid turn. Those most prone to thus viciously maltreat their urethras are physicians afflicted with chronic gonorrhoea. Until a locking device is invented that will iDrevent such patients endangering their urethras, it will be well in their protection to refuse a continuance of treatment, unless they pledge themselves not to interfere with the case. Bleeding to quite a considerable extent sometimes follows dilatations, especially in the beginning of treatment. Such a hemorrhage is usually of very short duration; if it threatens to become excessive, the penis may be compressed by a bandage until it ceases. Obstinate cases may require the pressure of a sound within the urethra in addition to the bandage. This failing, very cold water passed through a psychrophore will, in the majority of instances, arrest the bleeding. In extreme cases, such as are cited on page 77 (Complications), the urethra may be packed in the manner there described. When bleedings to any extent follow dilatations, it will be well to endeavor to control erections by the treatment mentioned on page 47 (Chordee), lest the erections cause the bleeding to recur at night. As mentioned before, one of the results of dilatations is an increase of discharge on the morning following treatment, or its recurrence if no discharge existed. Oberlaender looks upon this as an evidence of the " melting " of infiltrations. However this may be interpreted, the discharge in a case that proceeds in the ordinary manner is less in quantity, thinner in consistence, and lighter in color at each recurrence, until it ceases entirely. The products of inflammation that are carried off in the urine become smaller and less in quantity. With these manifesta- tions the general condition of the patient improves and local as well as reflex manifestations of disease fade away. The limits of dilatation and irrigation are reached when no more evidences of disease exist or can be evoked by the tests mentioned in Chapter XIV. (The Proofs of Cure of Gonorrhoea) . There are but few conditions in which dilatations are contra- indicated. Decrepit persons, those in acute febrile conditions, those with large vesical tumors or with genito-urinary tuber- culosis, or those in whom a severe posterior urethritis persists TREATMENT OF CHRONIC GONORRHCEA. 1G5 must not be dilated. The last mentioned must be treated by irrigations, or by Guyon's instillations of silver nitrate, until the condition of the posterior urethra ceases to be an impedi- ment to dilatations. Invasion of the crypts, glands, and follicles was alluded to in this chapter under the third class of causes upon which the chronicity of a gonorrhoea may depend. In such a case dilata- tions and irrigations will have no appreci- able or lasting effect while these recesses harbor infectious bac- riG. 51.— KoUmann's Urethral Gland Syringe. teria. Any attempt to treat such cases, except locally, by means of the urethroscope, must be abjectly hopeless. Among the many inventions for which the profession is indebted to KoUmann are instruments for treating these cases. His urethral gland syringe is the first to be con- sidered. By means of this little instrument silver nitrate can be injected directly into the invaded glands, as they are exposed by the urethroscope. These injections fail- ing to effect a cure, the glands can be evacuated by his sharp curette. If curettage does not accomplish the de- sired end, his electrolytic needle will effectively destroy the invaded urethral adnexa. For this purpose, the needle is attached to the negative pole of the galvanic battery ; the positive electrode is placed firmly upon the thigh. The needle is then carefully inserted into the gland as deeply as is possible without force ; the current is turned on verj^ slowly. At two or three milliamperes, white bubbles will be seen rising from the gland about the needle; as the instrument is sunk deeper and swept about the gland, these bubbles increase. The surgeon will have to estimate the manipulations required to entirely destroy a gland. The time necessary varies from five to fifteen seconds. The pain of electrolysis is easily borne by most patients. An exceptionally sensitive case maj- require cocainization. To minimize the pain the current should not be made before the needle is inserted, nor should the needle be removed until the current is gradually reduced and finally 166 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. broken. Ordinarily not more than three or four glands can be destroyed at one seance ; even if the patient is willing to bear the prolonged pain, more such work would be inadvisable, owing to the excessive reaction that would thus be produced. The greater ease and safety with which the glands can be de- stroyed by electrolysis makes this method preferable to the intraglandular injection and curettage before described. The intensity of the reaction can be very much reduced, and often Fig. 52. — Kollmaim's Electrolytic Needle for the Destruction of • Diseased Urethral Glands. entirely obviated, if each electrolytic seance is followed by an irrigation, as should be every instrumental invasion of the ure- thra. Neoplasms of the urethra, mentioned in this chapter as the fourth class of conditions that maintain a urethritis chronic, are not amenable to treatment except by aid of the urethroscope. When the^^ take the form of growths upon the urethral surface, they must be removed, as directed under Complications (page 50) . When they are interstitial as well as superficial, they ap- pear as dry, gray-looking cicatricial masses. Oberlaender recommends splitting these with his urethroscopic knife. The necessity of resorting to such incisions has not presented in my experience. Successive punctures of such infiltrates with KoU- mann's electrolytic needle, each seance followed by an irriga- tion, have thus far sufficed to gradualh^ overcome them. The objective point is usually best attained by treatment twice each week, one seance devoted to electrolysis and the other to dilata- tion. Invasion of the urethral adnexa, placed in the fifth group of causes that maintain the chronicity of gonorrhoea, may present as Cowperitis, vesiculitis, or prostatitis, or two or all of these. Their treatment is sketched under Digital Palpation of the Urethral Adnexa, page 173. Over-Treatment. — This cause for the continuance of a chronic urethritis has not been considered in the foregoing groups. TREATaiENT OF CHRONIC GONOERHCEA. 16T Yery few of the best-known antliors give it more than casual mention. Among these Fiirbringer emphasizes the fact that the urine will contain filaments as long as the urethra is dis- turbed by instruments. If a urethra that had never been infected were subjected to persistent instrumentation, even under the strictest aseptic precautions, it would sooner or later resent the intrusion, obedi- ent to the maxim " uhi irritatio, ihi affiuxus," if not otherwise than by irritative urethritis. A urethra that was diseased and has recovered is necessarily at least as prone to be affected by unnecessary treatment. If all the tests advocated in Chapter XIY. (The Proofs of Cure in Gonorrhoea) yield a negative result, the physician will be justi- fied in discontinuing treatment. But the exigencies of general practice, among other reasons, i)revent many physicians from becoming sufficiently expert urethroscopists, microscopists, and chemical analysts of urine for this purpose. The test that then might suggest itself, would be to risk discontinuance of treat- ment, with intentions to resume it should evidences of disease again present. This would be as dangerous to the patient's health as it would be to the physician's reputation. I believe that I have devised a fairly effective means of covering such cir- cumstances ; this means is suggested when discussing the inter- vals between dilatations (page 162). Naturally it will apply only when, for any reason, the direct and decisive tests of cure cannot be made. This suggestion is that when marked improvement shows itself, the intervals between treatments be prolonged one day each. On the third day of the second month after instituting such extension, the patient would have been eight days without treatment. If he continues to improve during this interval, the next one could safely be made twelve days. The improvement still continuing, the next interval could be eighteen days. This would bring the case to the third day of the third month of in- stituting the prolongation of intervals. Thus increasing the intervals between treatments by one-half each, after the eight days' interval has been reached in the ordinary course, would bring the next day of treatment twenty-seven days, or nearly a month from the preceding one. 168 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. Tlien it will be found that : If the Urethra is still Diseased : If the Patient has Eecovered : On the day after ti'eatment the discharge Recrudescence of the discharge may may become evident again. This continue, but not as many days as may continue several daj's. it would in a still diseased condi- tion. The floaters in the urine may increase Floaters appear in the urine that vras in dimensions and numher on the hitherto clear. They are, however, day or for several days after treat- fine and few. They disappear soon. ment ; then they gi'ow less in number and smaller in dimensions, but do not disappear. Toward the end of the interval be- The discharge does not reappear, nor tween treatments or before, the dis- does any abnormal moisture pre- charge or excess of moisture may re- sent at the meatus ; the floaters do appear; the "floaters" in the urine not reappear. become more numerous and more gross. For tlie sake of emphasis it may be repeated that this means of establishing the need of continuance or cessation of treatment is exceedingly crude and prolonged, but it is offered to take the place of the other correct, scientific method when the latter is not available. X. "RECURRENT" GONORRHCEA. A deliberately intentional misnomer heads this chapter, for the purpose of grouping under it the recurrences of apparently cured gonorrhoea without new infection. A recurrence, with or without an exciting cause, soon or many years after a clap has ceased to produce any manifesta- tions, is but a symptom of residual gonorrhoea. Until the loca- tion of the residual (latent, quiescent) affection is ascertained, the disease cannot be cured, nor the patient relieved from its dangers. It is this phase of gonorrhoea that has misled some good men to deem it an incurable disease. Recurrent gonorrhoea certainly offets great menaces to the patient and others, mainly because of the fancied security in which the former lives. Deeming himself cured, he may marry and infect his wife, or, with or without infecting her, the disease maj^ recur in him so many years after the first or last attack that it had become but a dim shadow of the past. Unless it can "recurrent" goxorrhcea. 169 be made evident that lie reinfected himself, a family disruption, because of the presumption of infidelity on part of either hus- band or wife, with all its sad consequences, is prone to result. This is especially likely to be the case if gonococci are found in the wife's genital secretions. Few physicians indeed there are, in general practice or in the specialty, who have not seen such recurrences of gonorrhoea. They present the appearances of a new infection with some of or all its symptoms and expose the patient to all its complica- tions and sequelae. The recurrence of such an uncured gonorrhoea may be, as said before, weeks, months, or many years after all manifesta- tions of the disease have ceased. The exciting cause may be : (1) Reduction of the patient's resistance by a debilitating disease, by exposure to inclement weather, by deprivation from proper food, by physical or mental overwork, by prolonged grief or anxiety ; (2) prolonged excite- ment of the genitalia, or excessive intercourse ; (3) dietetic irregu- larity, such as di'inking more beer or other stimulants than was the patient's custom; (4) a traumatism of the genitals, provok- ing an inflammatory condition; (5) examination of the prostate, seminal vesicles, or Cowper's glands, when urinary disturbance causes the patient to seek professional advice ; (6) examination of the urethra, as, for instance, when a stricture has sufficiently advanced to impede the urinary stream ; (7) marital reinfection. Whatever the exciting cause, the gross manifestations of the disease may be so marked and the appearance of gonococci so characteristic that the physician, unless he knows the patient very well, might believe, even if the patient is a colleague, that a new gonorrhoea has been recently contracted. While it is true that the infectious incident may have been forgotten, it is better to err on the side of charity and give the patient the bene- fit of the doubt. Irrigations, as described in Chapters III. and V., will, in the majority of such cases, bring about an abatement of the disease, and often in a very few days. But the cause for its recurrence remains and is likely to reproduce it at any time. Therefore it behooves us to study these causes now as far as is compatible "within the limits of this book. When the recurrence is provoked by reduction of resistance 170 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. from any cause, proper nutrition, protection from exposure to atmospheric inclemencies, abstinence from overwork must be prescribed in addition to local treatment. Grief and anxiety are, however, beyond the sphere of professional advice, unless it be in that sympathy and encouragement by which the physician exercises his noblest duty. In addition, these cases will require tonics. After several days of treatment, microscopical examination of the discharge and of the urine will serve as excellent guides to the locality of the residual infection. When the local manifestations have subsided or are reduced to a minimum, exploration of the ure- thra and its adnexa will usually confirm the microscopical diag- nosis. Before the case can be dismissed, these must be treated, and after the proper interval, the patient submitted to the tests mentioned in Chapter XIV. (The Proofs of Cure of Gonorrhoea). The second group of exciting causes of a gonorrhoeal recur- rence are perhaps the most difficult to ascertain. Few married men, except those lacking culture or refinement, will confess to genital dalliance with a partly willing female, such, for instance, as a well-developed, sensual-appearing servant. Yet some in whom the sexual sense, or lack of sense, is strongly pronounced are guilty of such acts, in which they perhaps preserve them- selves from the possible consequences of infection or the woman from impregnation by abstaining from gratification of the so stimulated impulse. A step further in this class is shown by those who indulge in psychic masturbation. They give way to invoked phantasms of sexual relations with women they see in public ©r even with creatures of the imagination. Whether these practices lead to appreciable ejaculation or only to its verge, the effect of the hypergemia is the same. Those who had sexual intercourse once oftener than was their habit in a night can similarly produce an emptying of gono- cocci that long have lain residual upon the urethral mucosa, or stimulate them to renewed activity by the urethritis ex lihidine that resulted. The irritated condition of the urethra which often obtains from the excesses committed shortly after marriage may pro- voke a recurrence of gonorrhoea, if the husband's urethral ad- nexa hold gonococci. An illustrative case may here be cited : A gentleman, aged 34, acquired gonorrhoea in his eighteenth "recurrent" gonorrhcea. iTl year. When he was twenty-eight he married, having had no manifestation of the disease for ten years. Shortly after his marriage, as so often happens, he had what appeared to be a very severe fresh attack of gonorrhoea. His wife was similarly affected. Conscious that for six months before he had not ex- posed himself to infection, and his wife but recently having been a virgin, he attributed their illness to that mysterious, albeit often quoted cause, a " strain, " for which he sought no treat- ment until violent orcho-epididymitis bound him to his bed. It progressed to suppuration, which caused the destruction of one epididymis and testicle. After this he had no acute evidence of disease until five years later. His wife then had returned home after an absence of several weeks. Their first coitus was, within four days, fol- lowed by acute gonorrhoea in both. Never having been guilty of infidelity, he suspected her, with the usual result of a family disruption. This lasted until it was shown him that either or both could harbor gonococci for years without any appreciable manifestation thereof. In both, the disease yielded rapidly to irrigations. The wife, on subsequent examination, was found to be free from the disease. The husband, however, three weeks after responding negatively to all tests, when examined urethroscopically, showed some enlarged, gaping glands. Their contents being expressed with KoUmann's spatula, showed gon- ococci, which, with an adequately exciting cause, would have sufficed to produce an apparently fresh clap. After electrolysis of these glands the patient resumed relations with his wife and his usual mode of high living. Examination of the entire gen- ito-urinary apparatus six months later showed no abnormal con- dition, except, of course, the destroyed testicle and epididymis. The third group of causes for the recrudescence of residual gonorrhoea are those attributable to dietetic irregularities. A glass of beer or wine in excess of the usual quantity drunk, or ingestion of the vegetables that provoke oxaluria or phosphaturia in susceptible cases, may set up enough urethral irritation to reproduce the discharge. In Germany the urethral irritation from young white wine and beer is well-known to the laity, whence arose the familiar designation of " Biertripper. " In all the cases of this Biertripper I could examine gonococci were found; each of these patients, however, acknowledged having had gonorrhoea. No doubt can obtain but that such a distinct urethritis occurs in cases that have never had gonorrhoea; it has, however, not been my fortune to meet one. When such a urethritis ah ingestis provokes gonorrhoeal re- 172 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. currence, success in ti'eatment naturally is predicated upon pro- hibition of all irritating food, stimulants, and carbonated waters. Traumatisms, mentioned before as the fourth class of causes for the recurrence of gonorrhoea, explain themselves. It is not necessary that the traumatism to the genitals be applied directly to the region which harbors gonococci ; the inflammation result- ing can readily extend to it and there provoke the recurrence. The fifth division of cases in which a recurrence of gonor- rhoea is provoked is distinctly due to the physician's inevitable diagnostic procedure, as shown by the following typical outline : A gentleman beyond middle life experiences gradually dimin- ishing propulsive ability in expelling urine. The physician examines his prostate, and in so doing makes pressure upon it. While having his finger in the rectum, he completes his work by examining the seminal vesicles and Cowper's glands. If any of these adnexa harbor gonococci, from an infection of possibly many years ago, some can be emptied into the urethra hy the manipulations necessary for a thorough examination. Ordi- narily the urethra is not infected thereby ; but if there be a point of weakened resistance in the urethra, acute gonorrhoea can re- sult from this mode of infection. The length of time in which gonococci can be harbored within the prostate, without in any way manifestating their presence to the patient, is well demonstrated by the following extreme case: A gentleman had an attack of gonorrhoea in his eighteenth year. At twenty-six he married. His wife bore him two healthy children. "W^en he was forty-three years old, his wife, who had not become pregnant for ten years, was taken with salpin- gitis at about the same time that he became affected with evidence of prostatic enlargement, such as diminution of the force of the stream, frequent nocturnal urination and inability entirely to empty his bladder. Examination of the enlarged gland brought forth a very small quantity of grayish muco-pus, which was found replete with gonococci. So here is a case in which, for twenty -five years, the prostate held gonococci without any manifestation whatever, not even preventing the procreation of two healthy children. In the sixth class of cases auto-infection, from the use of an exploring instrument to discover a stricture or a catheter to re- lieve retention, is far more readily comprehensible. The instru-' DIGITAL PALPATION OF THE URETHRAL ADNEXA. lT3 ment can impinge upon or scrape the mouth of an infarcted crypt, gland, or follicle and thus cause gonococci that have long lain residual therein, to be set free upon the mucosa. The seventh set of cases, those in which gonorrhoea is due to marital reinfection, are mentioned here only to remind the student of such a possibility. The importance thereof will bet- ter be considered more in detail under Kesidual Gonorrhoea in Women (Chapter XII.). The means for the diagnosis of these conditions and their treatment are outlined under the respective heads. Note : The cases cited in this chapter are quoted from my report in the Atlanta Medical and Surgical Journal, for Sep- tember, 1898. XI. DIGITAL PALPATION OF THE URETHRAL ADNEXA. As has been mentioned under the Complications of Gonor- rhoea, the posterior urethra, the prostate, and the seminal vesicles frequently become involved in gonorrhoea. Cowper's glands often escape. If infection of one or more of these adnexa is unheeded, the case is likely to be interminable, from uninter- rupted or occasional reinfection of the channel, as gonococci are carried to it from the organs mentioned. A greater part of each of these adnexa can be reached only through the rectum by the finger, not alone for diagnostic, but for therapeutic purposes as well. Digital exploration of the rectum, disagreeable and even painful as it sometimes is, cannot be avoided in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the seminal vesicles, the prostate, the base of the bladder, Cowper's glands, and the posterior urethra. 1. Preparation of the Patient. — "Whenever possible, the ex- amination should be made soon after the patient has evacuated his rectum. The presence of fecal masses or of a column of faeces renders the examination more disgusting than necessary. It also has a tendency to divert the physician's attention from his objective points. Many patients, especially if thej^ have not defecated on the day of the examination, at once have a 174 THE lERIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHOEA. desire for stool when the finger is inserted. The straining in- cidental thereto may thwart the effort at examination. This maj' go so far as to oblige an interruption of the examination, that the patient may go to the closet. The immediate resump- tion of digital exploration thereafter is only a renewal of every- thing unpleasant connected with the procedure. In such a case, it is generally advisable to defer further examination to the fol- lowing day. Of course such prorogation cannot be considered when dealing with an acute case, or one requiring immediate treatment, as in periprostatic or prostatic abscess. 2. When possible the patient empties his bladder, preferably into two or three twelve-inch ignition tubes. Into one tube ho passes 150 c.cgm. (about fl. § v.), which is estimated to carry with it all the washings from the anterior urethra that can be detached by the stream. The second, third, or more tubes, according to the capacity of the bladder and the time that has elapsed since the last urination, should then be filled. The last 25 or 30 c.cgm. (about an ounce) should be voided into a sepa- rate tube, to ascertain whether the final expulsive efforts cause ejection of the contents of the prostate or seminal vesicles, as in urination-spermatorrhoea. As has been said before, separa- tion of the urine in this manner does not serve for absolute diagnostic accuracy, but it often proves a valuable aid thereto. Naturally, if the patient is severely strictured, or has incon- tinence from any cause, or retention from a much enlarged pros- tate, this preliminarj' step is omitted. 3. Distending the Bladder. ■ — When no contraindication thereto exists, the bladder may be filled with a warm four-per- cent, boric-acid solution. Besides distending the bladder for the purpose of facilitating prostatic examination, this is the easiest means of ascertaining vesical capacity. Except where a large prostate acts as a dam for residual urine, the catheter and hand syringe (such as the Guy on or Janet syringes) are preferable for such measurement. The use of boric acid for this purpose has other advantages, which will be mentioned further on (see 14). 4. Position. — The method often advocated, of bending a pa- tient over a chair or the end of a table, is unsatisfactory. It obliges the surgeon to fix the pelvic viscera with his left hand, adding to the severe labor by the then necessary support of the DIGITAL PALPATION OF THE URETHRAL ADNEXA. l75 abdomen. As many of the cases requiring examination and massage of the prostate are quite corpulent, their management in this position becomes impossible. Moreover, in painful pros- tatic conditions, it may cause a patient to faint, or in epileptics may provoke an attack during examination. For the above reasons and for convenience as well, it is best to examine all cases with the patient lying on his back on a couch or table, the knees somewhat raised, and the heel of the right foot resting in the hollow of the left. When the trousers are then drawn down to the ankles, there will be no difficulty in extending the knees as far apart as possible. A cushion under the buttocks is objectionable, as it throws the weight of the abdomen upward, which draws with it the pelvic viscera. In so doing it naturally renders the distance between the anus and the prostate greater, and thus unnecessarily enhances the difficulty of examination. Instead of a cushion, a towel should be placed under the buttocks and left there, while the shirt is drawn up to beyond the hips. Most prostatic patients are very susceptible to change of temperature ; the towel will protect their bared nates from coming into contact with the cold leather of the table or sofa. The same towel should be used by the patient for cleansing his anus of the lubricant employed in the examination. The majority will appreciate this care for their comfort and the cleanliness of their linen. They will also appreciate it highly if a clean towel is placed under their heads, so that the hair is pro- tected from contact with the place where other patients have lain. The preference for a sofa over a table for prostatic examina- tion lies partly in the fact that the familiar piece of furniture inspires less dread than does the more strictly surgical imple- ment; consequently there is less likelihood of spasm of the sphincter ani, which fear of pain is prone to induce. Again, the surgeon, being in the bent posture, can exercise greater thoroughness with less manifestation of physical effort than he could if the patient were on a table. It is well to cover the lower third of the sofa with a tough rug, as the position of the patient with his knees drawn up and extended as widely apart as possible exposes his feet to slip- ping, and the sofa to being cut or at least mutilated by the patient's heels. 1T6 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHGEA. 5. Preparation of the Finger. — For some time I used espe- cially thin rubber cots to protect tlie index from contact with the rectum. No matter how thin, they always, by their presence, obtund sensation. Then, too, the thickened band at the open end constricts the finger, and this, producing some numbness by venous stasis, also renders the touch less acute. In addition to thus reducing the finger's sensitiveness, these cots are difficult to remove. Even slitting them with a probe- pointed knife does not prevent the fecal soiling one sought to avoid by their use, for it is but crowded down their slippery surface to the root of the finger. After discarding the finger-cots I for a while used short condoms ("rubber caps," Eichelcondome, capotes anglaises). The touch through them was somewhat better than through the equally thin cots. But their looseness about the finger often caused them to be swept off and left just within the sphincter ani. Attempts to fasten them with rubber bands produced the same constriction and consequent numbness which led the finger- cots to be discarded. Moreover the manufacture, importation, or sale of short condoms is forbidden by law ; therefore there is something disagreeable in the necessarily surreptitious manner of obtaining them. The use of common soap for the finger approaches perfec- tion in rectal examination. The points most requiring protec- tion are the sulcus beneath the nail and the matrix at its base. Of course no one in active genito-urinary work thinks of begin- ning his day's labors without filing and pumice-stoning his nails as close to the skin as possible. Still, a minute subungual furrow is inevitable, and it is in this furrow that the slightest trace of fecal odor makes itself so unpleasantly distinct, even after the most vigorous scrubbing. The rival of this spot for fecal defilement is the slightly overhanging skin at the matrix of the nail, which, despite the most assiduous trimming, cannot be kept down or even. Most genito-urinary practitioners who treat many cases daily, wash and scrub their hands very many times during office hours. It is true that at one of the large European clinics I saw a gentleman with a little bowl before him, containing about eight ounces of 1:1,000 mercuric bi- chloride solution. After each patient he dipped the tips of his fingers into this bowl and dried them on a towel — the one towel DIGITAL PALPATION OF THE URETHRAL ADKEXA. lYY serving liim for perhaps a liundrecl cases. That lie did not infect himself or carry infection from one patient to another could have been but a matter of luck. The matrices of his nails, too, were just as ragged as if he had used as much hot water and soap as do others. When soap is used to protect the finger, the cake should be slightly moistened and then scraped with the index, in such a manner as to fill the matrix, as well as the i?aterval between the nail and the skin at the tip of the finger. But after this is scrubbed off ever so vigorously and thoroughly, a match or ioothpick scraped through these spaces will acquire a decided fecal odor. This is possibly due to some of the excremental constituents penetrating the soap. "When soap is used for this purpose, the finger can be rid of its bad smell by first thoroughly scrubbing it in intensely hot, running water; then crushing a few grains of potassic perman- ganate about the finger with the left hand. After the ozone- like smell of the permanganate becomes evident, the stain is removed with oxalic acid and numerous rinsings. The slight cuts and chaps one occasionally acquires despite the greatest care then become too painfully evident to pass unobserved. Since January, 1899, 1 have used flexible collodion for finger protection in rectal examinations of the genito-urinarj' adnexa. Tt covers the finger tip with a pellicle which, if properly ap- plied, does not break within the rectum. It in no wise obtunds sensation. The fingerfe els through it as acutely as if it were not covered at all. Only after the examination, when the finger is vigorously scrubbed with soap and very hot water, does the collodion separate and then in large flakes. These flakes are five or six times thicker than elsewhere, at the subungual space and at the matrix, the very points most easily invaded by rectal contents. Any bits of collodion that may remain are quickly removed by a little ether, which also dissolves the fats that hold the minute fecal masses adherent to the finger. Thus cleanli- ness after rectal exploration is easily obtained. The best manner of securing a desirable coat for the finger is by dipping it into an ounce salt-mouth containing the flexible collodion. As soon as the first coat has dried, a second and finally a third may be applied in the same manner. This will give additional security and not interfere with sensation. 12 178 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT 01" GONORRHCEA. Special care should be exercised in not attempting to insert the finger before all parts of its collodion covering are perfectly dry . It may require several minutes to insure solidity of the little blebs that form between the finger and the collodion. If these are overlooked and the finger is inserted while they still exist, they will break in the rectum and produce severe burning as the ether of the collodion touches the mucosa. Besides the un- necessar.y suffering thus inflicted upon the patient, the points at which the collodion has so been broken will cause it to peel off in shreds and leave the finger exposed to contamination by the fecal odor. 6. Protecting the Genitals. — The patient being in position, with his trousers and drawers well drawn down to his ankles, as described under 4, the surgeon raises the scrotum with his left hand, so that the genitalia be not unnecessarily soiled with the lubricant that is now applied to the collodion-covered finger. 7. Lubricating the Finger and Anus. — When the entire right index finger is coated with collodion, as much lubrichondrin as can be taken up by it is placed upon the anus. 8. Inserting the Finger. — Most of the works I have been able to search are exceedingly meagre in their description of the entire technique of rectal digital examination. The most ex- plicit are Hoffmann, Giiterbock, and von Friscli. The first ' says : " The examining index finger, its vola turned upward, well oiled, is slowly inserted with gyrating motions, into the anus, after a thorough evacuation of the rectum." Giiterbock" offers but little more detail: "The oiled, care- fully inserted finger feels, after traversing the excavation of the rectum that lies closely over the anus, first the bulb which offers somewhat increased resistance." These directions certainly suffice for surgeons v/ho have been well instructed. But not all have had the educational advan- tages that make further details superfluous. Professor von Frisch," who describes the lower rectal findings lEgon Hoffmann: "Die Krankheiten der Prostata." Zuelzer and Ober- laender's Klinisclies Handbiich der Harn- imd Sexualorgane, vol. iii., p. 3, Leipzig, 1894. 2 Paul Giiterbock : Die Krankheiten der Harnrohre uud Prostata, p. 203, Leipzig and Vienna, 1890. 2 A. von Friscli: Die Krankheiten der Prostata, Holder, Vienna, 1899. DIGITAL PALPATION OF THE URETHRAL ADNEXA. 179 more in detail, offers tlie valuable advice that the hairs about the anus be separated before attempting to insert the finger. This additional precaution against giving the patient pain by dragging the hairs into the rectum will be especially appreci- ated by those who have been examined before without this care. Moreover, the examination will be easier to the physician be- cause of the absence of the pain which dragging upon the hairs would produce and the anal rigidity it would evoke. It is hardl}^ necessary to call attention to the need of care- fully avoiding an}- fissures or erosions about the anus, lest pain be given and aggravation of these conditions produced thereby. The examiner's index finger, protected with flexible collodion, penetrates the mass of lubricant he has placed upon the anus. At the moment of an interval between expiration and just before beginning inspiration, he allows the finger to glide into the rectum. Anj hesitation, gyration, or force wdll cause the pa- tient to contract the sphincter and violently clasp the thighs to- gether. The patient will certainly esteem more the efforts of one who, causing less or no pain, consequently performs better and more thorough work. 9. Beleasing the Scrotum. — The left hand now being required to fix the pelvic viscera, it allows the scrotum to fall gentl}^ into the space between the right thumb and the extended right index finger. 10. Fixing the Pelvic Visceyxi. — The left hand is curved, the outer margin of the thumb placed about half an inch above and parallel to the pubis. By increasing pressure downward and backward, the pelvic contents are rendered as immovable as l)0ssible and approached, as far as can be, to the finger within the rectum. 11. Baising the Perineum. — When the index finger is about to approach the mass of lubricant on the anus the middle, ring, and little fingers are flexed ; when the index penetrates the rectum, the other fingers are tightly closed upon the palm. The dorsal aspect of their basilar phalanges presses against the perineum as the index ingresses more deeply into the rectum. Mean- while the forearm is depressed between the thighs until the elbow almost touches the couch upon which the patient lies. As this is being done the perineum is crowded upward^ the surgeon avoiding contact with the tip of the coccyx. 180 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHOEA. 12. Position of the Thumb. — If the thumb is doubled with the other fingers, it will be arrested by the ascending ramus of the pubis and thus materially limit the upward progress of the index within the rectum. When the hand is turned to avoid this, the knuckle of the thumb will impinge upon the anterior part of the perineum and give the patient unnecessary pain. It is therefore well to pass the thumb as high up as possible along the scrotum, while the index finger glides into the rectum. 13. Faljjation. — The index finger, as it progresses into the rectum, ordinarily finds : (a) the excavation of the rectum, almost immediately above the anus ; (h) the bulb which offers a some- what increased resistance; (c) the pars nuda urethrse; (d) the apex of the rectal surface of the prostate; (e) the lobes of the prostate. Even a short index finger, when the proper technique is carefully followed, can pass its tip about the topmost margins of the prostate and even beyond them, as in health the extreme upper curves of the prostatic lobes are between 7 and 8 cm. from the external anal margin. With increasing practice the physician will learn to seek for the seminal vesicles and the ampullae of the vasa beyond the prostate, and Cowper's glands below it, during the same rectal exploration. Ordinarily these adnexa cannot be found in health. If prostatic enlargement always proceeded in its rectal direc- tion alone, digital palpation would suffice for diagnosis. But as the diseased prostate can increase in size in any direction, other palpatory means than that furnished by the finger will be required. In this a silver catheter with a short curve or with the Mercier beak will prove of valuable aid. If, the finger being in the rectum, such a catheter is inserted into the bladder, its tip is distinctly felt as it passes through the bulbous portion and with equal distinctness as it penetrates the pars nuda. It then disappears until its tip proceeds just beyond the prostate. A tight rubber band may then be slipped over the catheter just where it emerges from the meatus, while the penis is crowded as far back toward the pubis as possible. Then withdrawing the catheter, its point is concealed by the prostate from the finger in the rectum. Still further extracting the catheter, an- other rubber band is slipped over its shaft at the moment when DIGITAL PALPATION OF THE URETHRAL ADNEXA. 181 the finger witliin tlie rectum first feels it in the pars nucla, be- neath the prostate. The distance between the two rubber bands will give a sufficiently precise measurement of the length of the prostatic urethra. This consequently will also reveal increase in the length of the prostate. The thickness of the prostate and variations therein are, dis- cernible in the same manner. An aid to this is in close obser- vation of the shaft of the catheter. Grossly it may be said that the less the prostate crowds into the bladder, the more will the external end of the catheter point upward, and the larger the prostatic ingression of the bladder, the more will it be inclined downward between the patient's thighs. Naturally this applies only when the shaft of the catheter has passed the prostatic ure- thra. The cysroscope is doubtless the most valuable instrument for prostatic examination, when its encroachment is principally toward the bladder. But as cystoscopy is not within the prov- ince of the present effort, we may rest at its mention. 14. Emptying the Bladder.— The discomfort at least, if there be no severe pain incidental to rectal palpation, ordinarily affects the patient very much. Often the pupils will be found quite dilated, the pulse weak, and respiration disturbed. Some men grow very pale and are suffused with persi)iration in con- sequence of the examination. It is well to have the patient remain in the position of the examination, but with extended legs, for at least five minutes, or at all events until all symp- toms of the disturbance have passed off. He is then allowed to rise, and, in order to divert his attention, he is ordered to cleanse carefully the region about his anus of the lubricant lest it soil his linen. It will be unwise to ask the patient to empty his blad- der at once. The examination ordinarily produces a pro- longed spasm of the compressor, which does not subside for five or ten minutes, and only then can the patient void the blad- der contents. 15. Microscopical Examination. — When boric-acid solution or sterilized water has been used to dilate the bladder, it shows by its turbidity, when passed, that the prostatic contents or those of the seminal vesicles have been pressed out during the ex- amination. If the palpation has been prolonged, the water 182 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. may also contain a little urine. Shreds from the bladder or urethra may also float in the liquid. To complete the diag- nosis, the fluid should be sedimented or centrifuged and ex- amined microscopically. By this means a guide to the organ affected will be obtained. If the prostate is not so much enlarged as to preclude sepa- rate examination of the other urethral adnexa that can be reached through the rectum, these should be examined preferably a day or two after each other. While their shape and gross changes can be elicited at one examination when extreme prostatic en- largement does not prevent, the contents expressed from them are mingled in the urethra, and therefore the specimens obtained must be examined together. The technique of separate examination of each of the other urethral adnexa is performed as follows : 16. Seminal Vesicles. — All the steps for examination of the prostate are taken. The finger passes the prostate without making any pressure upon it. Above the prostate and some- what external to its sides, the vesicles project along the bladder. In health the vesicles cannot often be felt ; in disease they pre- sent as somewhat enlarged sausage-shaped, soft or hard bodies. Occasionally distinct knots are felt in them. Their stripping or " milking " is performed by strokes similar to those used in massage of the prostate. Fuller's excellent work on " Disorders of the Male Sexual Organs " (Lea, 1895) is devoted to the study of diseases of the seminal vesicles, and to this work the reader is referred for exhaustive information. 17. The Posterior Urethra. — For examination of as much of the posterior urethra as can be reached through the rectum, the patient's bladder is first irrigated until the boric acid used is returned perfectly clear. Then the bladder is filled with dis- tilled water, and the patient prepared as for a prostatic examina- tion. The examining finger, however, leaves the prostate without pressing upon it, and exercises all its pressure on such parts of the urethra as are exposed, endeavoring at each stroke to com- press the urethra more closely against the pubis. The distilled water then passed will contain such shreds, flakes, filaments, and granules as the urinary stream and irrigation could not de- tach from the walls of the posterior urethra. While the pres- ence of gonococci in this " expression fluid " will serve to assist DIGITAL PALPATION OF THE URETHRAL ADXEXA. 183 in diagnosis, differentiation is not complete without uretliro- scopic examination. 18. Coicpers Glands. — Altliougli these glands are not fre- quently involved, their examination should not be omitted. In health they are so minute as to be barely or not at all percepti- ble to the examining finger in the rectum. When it is engaged between the internal and external sphincter, somewhat doubled UTiou itself and carried forward in the direction of the perineal I'aphe, at either side thereof, these glands will be found. In many cases of prostatic enlargement, of acute vesiculitis or cystitis, the bladder will not tolerate the preliminary disten- tion mentioned above. The examination then must be made without this valuable assistance, and it consequently becomes more difficult. It is particularly when the bladder is dilated that some of the contents of the adnexa escape from the meatus when pressure is made upon them. The discharge so obtained is then easily taken upon a cover-glass, and prepared for micro- scopical examination. Massage of tJie prostate and striijping the seminal vesicles for therapeutic purposes are performed in practicalh^ the same man- ner. The tip of the finger engages, as high up as possible, the organ to be treated. At first gentle, slow strokes downward and toward the mesian line are made ; these strokes are gradu- ally' increased in firmness and continued until the flattening of the organs shows that their removable contents are expressed, or at least as long as the patient can bear the manipulation. In many cases the efficacy of prostatic massage can be en- lianced by steadying the vesical side of the prostate by means of a sound, preferably of the Guyon curve. It requires, how- ever, some dexterity to so incline the sound laterally within the bladder that it rests upon and thereby' to a degree fixes the prostatic lobe that is being treated through the rectum. The student need hardly be reminded that the first rectal manipulation is likely to be quite painful. Therefore extreme gentleness is as requisite here as it is in all other genito-urinary work. The relief patients experience is in most instances so great th^t they willingly submit to what soon grows to be a mere inconvenience. Indeed, many of them urge its repetition at shorter intervals than the judgment of the physician prescribes. 184 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. Only rarely can these organs bear massage or stripping oftener than twice or at most three times weekly. In exceptional cases daily massage may be required. XII. RESIDUAL GONORRHOEA IN WOMEN. Gynecologists have, in recent years, well exposed the dis- astrous consequences of gonorrhoea when it invades the womb and the organs beyond. They have also shown how amenable the disease is to treatment before it has passed beyond the vagina. Many a woman, however, subjected to the older methods of treatment is only apparently cured. In consequence, she may at any time near or remote, infect a man, if the circumstances are projjitious therefor. This form of the disease, which seems to be best defined hj the term "residual gonorrhoea," has appar- ently not received the attention in literature that its importance merits. In considering residual gonorrhoea in women, the disease adulterously acquired by the husband or wife may, in certain cases, be within the range of possibility. But adultery does not contribute to the understanding of residual gonorrhoea, unless the infection of the husband occurs long after all manifestations of the attack have subsided. Again, the possibility of auto-infection on the part of the husband, who had gonorrhoea before marriage, as outlined in Chapter X., can explain a gonorrhoea in his wife, who may, if the husband is ignorant of such a possibility, be unjustly ac- cused of infidelity. The field for speculation and theorization in this connection is extremely wide, and most frequently no conclusions can be reached therefrom. Certain facts, however, are known. Among these are the not inconsiderable number of women who marry men while the latter are not cured of gonorrhoea. Many of these women, for at least a period of their lives, enjoy a species of immunity. Their resistance to gonorrhoeal infection may at any time become impaired by slight causes. If the case re- ceives prompt and energetic treatment, no residual gonorrhoea will result. RESIDUAL GOXORRHCEA IN WOMEN. 185 Many practitioners have been obliged to treat vaginitis in recently married women. Often this is so slight that it subsides with the employment of an antiseptic wash, a lead and opium lotion, or injections only of hot water. Since familiarity of prac- titioners with bacteriological staining has become greater, many of these cases are found to contain gonococci. Anti-gonorrhoeal treatment being employed, the patients recover. The majority of brides, however, do not inform any one of their ailments, which they conclude are the natural consequences of sexual intercourse. In very many cases, especially if the husband is considerately abstinent for a while, the infection ap- parently yields to the vis medicatrix naturce. In some cases the inflammation is so slight and its resultant discharge so scanty that, when gonococci are found in the mi- nute excess of normal secretion, Guiard's hlennorrhagie clironique d'emhUe is suggested. Most women, when brought for examination under suspicion of having infected their husbands, will unhesitatingly acknowl- edge having had leucorrhoea once or oftener in their lives. Some, however, have had so slight vaginal discharges that they attracted no attention because of that marvellous carelessness regarding the genitals which so widely extends in all classes of society. Whether these discharges were the result of gonor- rhoeal infection or were leucorrhoeas due to other causes, is of course impossible to determine after they have passed off. The cases that must be considered as residual present no ex- ternal manifestations whatever. The urethra, the labia, the vagina, the cul-de-sac, and the os all appear perfectly normal. If consideration of the woman's health stops here, and the hus- band is cured, he is likely at any time to again contract the dis- ease from his wife, without any crass evidences of the disease becoming manifest in her. To illustrate as graphically as is possible to me, the condi- tions above outlined, I transcribe several typical cases from my records : J. B aged 35, banker, in apparent good health, with no family or personal record of disease of any kind, was sent by a colleague on November 5th, 1897. The patient said that for three years he had been cohabiting with but one woman, of whose fidelity he had no doubt. Three weeks before, he had. 186 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GOXORRHCEA. four days after intercourse, experienced slight burning on uri- nation f soon a slight mucoid excess set in. The discharge rapidly became yellowish, then greenish-yellow, mixed with blood. With the increase of the discharge the pain on urination increased ; painful erections were almost continual every night ; the right epididymis was enlarged, not much hardened, but ex- quisitely sensitive. The last-mentioned complication caused him to be referred to me. The patient had been treated by the internal administration of balsams and various hand injections. On examination of the discharge it was found to contain very little mucus, few leucocytes, few epithelial cells, and most of these from the second layer of the urethra. Everywhere the field was thick with pus cells, of which many seemed ready to burst from their repletion with gonococci. There were also man^^ extracellular gonococci between the pus cells and some attached to the epithelial scales. In brief, it was a distinct case of gonorrhoea. Irrigations and strapping the testicle enabled the patient to be dismissed from treatment on November 23d, 1897— i.e., eighteen days after his first visit. Beer and champagne did not reproduce the dis- charge; injection of silver nitrate produced a non-microbic dis- charge lasting ten hours ; coitus with a condom showed the semen to be normal; expression of the prostate and seminal vesicles proved freedom from infection of these organs ; these tests were made a week apart. Then, a week later, a urethro- scopic examination showed a healthy urethra. On March 20th, 1898, the patient was again sent to me with some pain on urination, slight mucoid discharge easily express- ible from the somewhat tumefied lips of the meatus. The first urine was turbid and contained coarse filaments, which sank rapidlj^ to the bottom. The second urine was clear. Microscopical examination of the discharge showed it to con- tain several groups of intracellular gonococci. The patient assured me that he had cohabited with no other woman. His last intercourse had been four days previously, being two days before she began to menstruate, at which epoch she was more than ordinately sensual. They had not committed sexual excesses. Under irrigations this discharge and all other symptoms ceased in five days. During this time he told me that his mistress confessed to having been unfaithful to him about six months before, with a married man, whom he knew. The one-time partner of his mistress's favors confirmed her confession, but averred that he never had had any venereal disease. I suggested that if my patient had never been infected be- fore, possibly his mistress had, previous to their acquaintance, and that she might unconsciously be carrying a residual gonor- RESIDUAL GOXORRHCEA IX WOMEN. IST rhoea, whicli from the liyperEemia incidental to the pre- and post-menstrual days would become manifest. He then wrote her, severing their relations. She came to his office and in tears Adolently protested against being cast off. In the heat of her asseverations, she confessed to having cohabited with a number of men, whose names she revealed, so that he might assure him- self that none of them had been infected by her. On her insistence that she be examined in his presence, he brought her to me. To safeguard vaj position regarding what might otherwise imply a violation of professional confidence, I asked whether she were willing that I tell him my findings in her presence. To this she promptly consented. On examination, I found her genitalia in apparently per- fect health. Careful scrapings from the introitus, Bartholini's glands, the meatus, the vaginal walls, the cul-de-sac, the cervix, all showed normal epithelium, some mucus, and the usual vaginal bacteria. I then carefully irrigated the genitalia with hot boric-acid solution, sterilized my hands, and packed the vagina with steril- ized' cotton tampons soaked in sterilized glycerin. On re- moving these forty-eight hours later, I found a slight excess of whitish discharge upon the small tampon that had rested in the cul-de-sac and some slight oozing from the os. Examination of these discharges, so evoked from the submucous layers, was found to contain distinct groups of gonococci. The patient then told her lover, in my presence, that about a year before she first knew him, she had had a slight vaginal discharge, which had been diagnosed as leucorrhoea; this had promptly yielded to treatment. As an explanation for infecting him and not others, she offered that he was the only one with whom she experienced an orgasm, while she merely submitted to the others for the sake of financial gain. A similar case was brought me three years ago. A young married woman infected her lover. She confessed to having been cured of gonorrhoea acquired as a result of her first adultery, while her husband was on a long voyage. He was never infected by her. She said that though her husband was sexually more potent than her lover, and physically better developed, he never produced an orgasm in her. This she at- tributed to her dislike for him. Each coitus with her lover, however, was complete. Examination revealed an exceedingly slight endocervicitis which, however, contained no gonococci. Only upon curetting the cervix, some discharge was obtained containing Neisser's specific microbe of gonorrhoea. In this case it seemed safe to 188 THE IRRIGATION^ TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. say tliat tlie spasm of the orgasm discLargecl in this instance gonococci, which reached the lover's meatus. In a third case, seen with a colleague, the patient was a young woman, who claimed to suffer from occasional eroto- mania. When the condition was severe she assumed the part of a prostitute. Frequent cohabitation did not relieve the de- sire, unless the man's physique or mentality especially pleased her. Then coitus produced an orgasm. She was sure, when- ever this occurred, that she had infected the man. Her phy- sician told me that she had sent him a number of patients, for whose treatment she had paid, whenever the patient would per- mit it. She unhesitatingly related that she had had gonorrhoea^ four years previous to consultation. Examination evinced no excess of secretion, but a thorough curettage revealed that the deeper uterine mucosa harbored gonococci. This young woman, though continuing her course, afterward infected no others. A number of similar cases could be thus sketched to warrant the following deductions : (1) A woman can have residual gonorrhoea, without any ex- ternal manifestations. (2) A woman with residual gonorrhoea is more likely to infect a man cohabiting with her during the hy- persemia immediately preceding or still remaining after men- struation. (3) The likelihood of infection is probably greater if the coitus produces an orgasm in the woman. (4) Packing the cul-de-sac, as employed in the first case cited, may produce a slight discharge, revealing the submucous habitat of gonococci. (5) A submucous intra-uterine habitat of gonococci can be reached only by thorough curettage. (6) No woman should be pronounced cured of gonorrhoea until the osmosis test men- tioned above (4) has proved negative, and until expression of the urethra and Bartholini's glands, and scrapings from the cervix and uterine lining are proven to be free from gonococci. Note : This chapter is elaborated from an article I contrib- uted to the American Journal of Surgery and Gynecology (St. Louis), May, 1898. XIII. URETHROSCOPY. As has been repeatedly observed in the preceding chapters, a diagnosis of a chronic urethral disease cannot be even approxi- mately complete without visual examination of the channel. URETHROSCOPY. 189 Obedient to surgical principles, no instrument may be in- troduced into tlie urethra wMle it is acutely inilamed. -Tlie only exceptions thereto are when a foreign body requires removal or when retention demands relief by the catheter, after other means of voiding the bladder have failed. In Chapter '\rLEI. (Chronic Gonorrhoea) mention was made of the fact that without the aid of the urethroscope, all treat- ment of chronic urethral diseases must be tentative. With its assistance, the diagnosis can be made early, the treatment di- rected to the cause, and recovery expedited. But as easy as urethroscopy is, and as simple as its tech- nique has become, it can be acquired only most laboriously from written descriptions. The certainty of diagnosis it gives, however, is worth all the efforts devoted to acquiring it. In this it does not differ from other instruments of precision, such as the ophthalmoscope, the laryngoscope, etc., except that its manipulations are less difficult. The technique of urethroscopy can be most readily acquired by a few lessons from a colleague, who has been properly in- structed. A recognition of the multifarious conditions seen and their diagnostic interpretation can come only with experience. All efforts to pictorially present the urethral conditions have hitherto failed, at least, in being of use to the beginner. The essential difficulty seems in the reproduction of the colors, which are seen in the urethra under electric illumination. The pictures lithographed all appear too lurid, when an attempt to reproduce them is made. Exceptions thereto are the sectional colored pictures illustrating Oberlaender's' work, but as they are schematic, showing the walls of the urethra in section, they are of use only, and of most valuable use, to the urethroscopist of some experience. KoUmann's black and white photographs of the urethra are also invaluable to the advanced urethroscopist; it would certainly be desirable if the method of photographing the urethra devised by him were in the hands of all genito-uri- nary specialists, whose records and reports would be vastly en- hanced in value thereby. The reasons wherefor the urethroscope is not more generally used seem to be because: (1) Of the complicated character of • Oberlaender : Lehrbucli der Urethroskopie, Thieine, Leipzig, 1893. 190 THE IRRIGATIOX TREATMENT OF GOXORRHCEA. tlie instruments for direct illumination ; (2) of defective light- ing; (3) of the high cost of the instrumentarium. The consequence is, that the treatment of chronic gonorrhoea continues to be with some the most unhappy guesswork. To others it is a hopeless task, undertaken with misgivings and discarded in desperation. What wonder then that the quacks make this their favored field, to begin with promises, to end with the patient's purse ! The immense number of men whose lives are rendered miserable and abbreviated by chronic gonor- rhoea, make all efforts on their behalf, and on behalf of their wives and children, worthy of most serious consideration. Manifestly then, an instrument is necessary to show the practitioner the exact location and precise character of the dis- ease. The instrument must effectively do its work, must be simple in construction, eas^' of use, not prone to get out of order, and always reliable. If the opinion of those who honor me by calling me their fellow-specialist is a guide, as it is on other matters, all these ends are accomplished by the urethroscope I had the privilege of publicly demonstrating for the first time before our Genito- urinary Section of the New York Academy of Medicine on March 14th, 1899. This instrument, made for me by the Electro-Surgical Com- pany, consists of uretkroscopic tubes, running from Nos. 24 to 32 Fig. 53.— Drethroscoplc Tubes. F. In general appearance they differ little from the Nitze-Ober- laender tubes with burnished ends as modified by Kollmann. This modification permits urethral examination from behind for- ward as well as from before backward. The disc at the visual end is, however, larger, to safely hold the spur for easy and firm attachment of the light-carrier and the megaloscope. Each tube is provided with an obturator, stamped on the handle to correspond with the tube to which it belongs. The distal end closes the urethral tube to permit its easy introduc- URETHROSCOPY 191 tion, and has a deep slit corresponding witli a similar slit in the handle. This slit permits air to readily enter the tube, facilitating the removal of the obturator by then preventing any suction upon the urethral mucosa. Fig. .54. — obiurdtor. The Ught-carrier is a delicate but very firm strip containing the insulated wires that illuminate the lamp which is enclosed in a glass capsule. By this means bright light is brought into almost immediate contact with the spots to be examined, be they ever so small. At its proximal end the light-carrier has an expansion, which can readily be attached to the spur on the disc of the urethroscopic tube. From the expansion the in- sulated connections for the conducting wires project, but are so FIG. 6.3.— Light-Carrier. curved that they do not encroach upon the visual orifice of the urethral tube. The light-carrier in general appearance resembles the one used in the Nitze-Oberlaender urethroscope. It differs essen- tially, however, in that the lamj) gives no appreciable heat, and consequently requires none of the cumbersome water-cooling arrangements that are necessary when an uncovered light is used. Furthermore, the lamp being fixed permanently at its end, is not exposed to twisting and short-circuiting, as happens almost continually with what hitherto was the best instrument for direct illumination. Nor is this lamp likely to burn out, unless the most gross carelessness is employed. Moreover, the light being enclosed in glass, permits the lamp to remain in place while swabbing the secretions from the urethra, performing cauterizations, slitting infiltrated glands, electrolysis, finding the opening of devious strictures, and every other diag- nostic and remedial procedure, all under the guidance of sight. 192 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. The megaloscope is a series of lenses combined in a sliort tube, attachable by a ring to the spur on the disc. By means of the megaloscope, whose focus is easily changed, the view of every part of the urethra can be im- mensely magnified. The intersi)ace between the visual orifice of the tube and the objective end of the megaloscope is three-fourths of an inch, to allow the introduction of instruments for operative procedures within the urethra. The urethroscope, with all the appurte- nances described, is enclosed in a case, whose total weight is about ten pounds. At the price at which the fresh dry cells are furnished, the cost of each urethroscopy is within half a cent. The foregoing shows that I have devised only improvements upon and mainly simplifica- tions of existing instruments. This urethroscope in its entirety, however, differs from the Nitze- Oberlaender apparatus in being easily transport- able, thus making it unnecessary to reserve a room in the office suite for this purpose, or of having an urethro- scopic outfit for each room. When science and benefit to humanity are objective points, the question of priority is of no importance. Still it may be well to sketch the history of this instrument. In 1894 1 expressed to my friend and fellow-student, Dr. Henry Koch, the opinion that urethroscopy by direct illumination would not find favor with the profession unless the water-cooling arrangement could be dispensed with and the apparatus further simplified as to the source of illumination and in other regards. It seemed to me that the first step in this direction would be in the production of a sufficiently small encapsulated light. Late in 1898 Dr. Koch found that Mr. W. C. Preston could make such a light. Experiments with it led me to suggest the construction of the apparatus above described.' The technique of urethroscopy , as suggested before, is exceed- 1 As this book is going to press, Messrs. George Tiemann & Company, of New York, are placing before the profession a urethroscopic apparatus embrac- ing all the improvements that continued study and experience have demon- strated to be necessary for aseptic, effective, and convenient work. URETHROSCOPY. 193 ingly simple. One demonstration usuallr suffices to impart all its details. As, however, all cannot avail themselves of such personal instruction, an attempt is here made to substitute it, as well as m}^ descriptive powers will allow. Anterior Urethroscopy. — 1. Have the patient lie on an oper- ating-table, or sit on a high chair. The former is always pref- erable, especially when an intra-urethral operation is to be per- formed or when remedies are to be applied. When a chair is used the patient should sit as far forward as possible upon its front edge, its back supporting his shoulders, and his legs wide apart. 2. Cleanse the foreskin, glans, and meatus thoroughly with absorbent cotton soaked in bichloride 1 : 6,000. 3. Select the urethroscopic tube that will readily pass the meatus. Those experienced in urethroscopy will have no diffi- culty in doing this. The novice will do well to employ a Piffard meatometer, w^hich often reveals that a meatus which appears to be very tight is rapidly, painlessly extensible so that it will offer no resistance to a very large tube. On the other hand, it will often show that quite a large meatus is no guide to a very tight posterior boundary of the fossa navicularis. In the latter case, a much smaller tube must be used or a preliminary deep meatotomy performed. 4. After cleansing the tube and obturator, pass each one separately through the flame of an alcohol lamp or Bunsen burner. Then insert the obturator into the tube and pour gly- cerin upon them until the tube, and especially the projecting tip of the obturator, is thoroughly lubricated. 5. Take the penis in the left hand as for anterior irrigations and wipe upon the meatus some of the excess of the glycerin from the tube in the same manner as was recommended before (insertion of a dilator, vide page 153). 6. Insert thej;ube gently, without any gyrating motions, until it is arrested by the compressor urethras or the anterior layer of the triangular ligament. If it does not proceed so far without the employment of force, stricture or some other abnor- mality obstructs its progress. Then a smaller tube must be used. Only exceptionally is there any practical value in em- ploying a tube smaller than a 24 F., save by urethroscopic ex- perts. A tube so large as to give pain or to produce excessive bleeding thwarts the purposes of urethroscopv. 13 194 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. 7. Withdraw the obturator, after giving it a slight turn in either direction. 8. Dry the urethra of excessive secretions by gently mop- ping it through the tube by means of applicators wrapped with absorbent cotton. Uncut match sticks will be found most con- venient for this purpose. 9. Insert the light-carrier, and fasten it to the spur on the disc. 10. Attach the megaloscope when required. 11. Draw the tube slowly out of the urethra. As this is being done all its parts fall into view. When one requiring special investigation or treatment is met, bend the penis over the tip of the tube in the direction opposite to the side at which the point to be examined appears. This stretches the mucosa at such a point for better examination or treatment. The fourth or fifth finger of the left hand holding the penis can push the urethra still further into view. 12. As an additional safeguard, it is well to irrigate the an- terior urethra after a urethroscopy, as after any other instru- mentation. Posterior Urethroscopy. — (a) Place the patient in the posi- tion for perineal section. (b) Perform the steps indicated above (1 to 6). When the tip has reached the compressor make gentle pressure against it; at the same time depress the tube between the thighs. Then, watching for the end of an expiration, gently thrust the tube inward and slightly upward. Usually the grasp of the com- pressor is felt upon the tube for an instant ; immediately there- after it can be drawn forward and backward. This should not be done bruskly lest the tip injure the very sensitive posterior urethra. (c) Withdraw the obturator. This is usually followed by some urine. {d) Dry the posterior urethra as much as possible with ab- sorbent cotton wrapped about applicators, taking more care than ever to use no violence. A little blood upon the cotton is, how- ever, not unusual. (e) Insert the light-carrier. Even if urine trickles into the posterior urethra and out through the urethroscope, it will not extinguish the light, as it would were an uncovered, incandescent URETHROSCOPY. 195 wire employed. Tlie posterior uretlira can consequently be most deliberately examined, its secretions mopped up, and ap- plications made under the guidance of sight. An intravesical irrigation of potassium permanganate 1:6,000, or of boric acid four percent., should be used after posterior urethroscopy. UrethroscopiG Diagnosis. — The recognition of urethral dis- turbances, lite a knowledge of the urethra in health, cannot be acquired, except most laboriously, from mere descriptions. Even such graphic details as those furnished by Oberlaender, Koll- mann, and Wossidlo are of use only to the urethroscopist whose eye has received some training. They then are invalu- able. Still, those who are prevented from obtaining personal in- struction in the urethroscopic appearances are entitled to such guidance as is within the writer's power. To this end the fol- lowing attempt is made. Tlie Uretlira in Health. — Even when observing most scrupulous asepsis no physician will insert an instrument into a urethra which he knows to be in health. But the practitioner may avail himself, for the purpose of studying the normal urethra, of a class of neurasthenics to whose general condition urethroscopy acts as a most grateful placebo. ISTo matter how perfect the condition of their urinary channels, nor how firm the physician is in assuring them of that fact, they are satisfied and believe themselves improved with each urethroscopic examination. The study of urethroscopy on cadavers is absolutely useless. Circulation having ceased, the natural color and consistence of the mucosa are gone and offer no means for comparisons. A first glance into the normal urethra shows a red glare, re- calling one's initial effort at ophthalmoscopy. After some prac- tice one learns to distinguish brilliancy, colors, folds, and stri£e. The normal " central figure," as Oberlaender calls that part of the urethra which presents when the tube is held in the exact axis of the canal, merits study, as do the mouths of the crypts which later on become evident to the investigator. Under the megalo- scopic attachment the submucous blood-vessels become visible; their normal or excessive tortuousness should receive heed. Even with these premises it will be found that the urethra, like other organs, varies exceedingly within the limits of health. 196 the irrigation treatment of gonorrhcea. The Normal Anterior Urethra. The normal brilliancy of the urethra varies in its different parts. The cavernous portion is so brilliant that it suggests disturbing reflexes. The fossa is perhaps almost as brilliant, but the paleness of its submucous tissues makes the whiteness thereof more apparent. The lyyrmal color varies considerably. It m&j be anaemic, pale, or light pink; moderately hypersemic, roseate to red; hy- persemic, intensely red. The normal folds vary with the calibre, thickness, and con- sistence of the urethra. A narrow ansemic urethra shows slight folds or none at all ; while a wide, thick, coarse urethra contains five to eight more or less deep folds of mucosa. The normal strice appear as fine yellowish- white marks, radi- ating from the central figure upon the eminences of the folds. This striation is not found in all urethrae. The normal central figure suggests the opening of a rubber " spring " tobacco pouch, where the distal end of the tube presses against the mucosa by its weight. Ever so slightly drawing the penis out gives this region a funnel-lite appearance, leaving the " central figure " somewhat smaller, and differing in various parts of the urethra. Just behind the glans it appears as a small round or oval opening, deeper within the urethra it looks like a closed dimple, and at the bulb its lower half arches for- ward. Tlie Morgagnian (7r?/23fe.— When drawing the tube out of the urethra five to ten little shallow depressions fall into view, most of them centrally located toward the upper two-thirds of the canal. These are the openings of the Morgagnian crypts. The megaloscopic attachment will considerably augment the apparent size of the above-described parts. The Normal Posterior Urethra. The ca-put gallinaginis {vera montanum, colliculus seminalis) is usually first seen in the posterior urethra. It is about the size of a split pea, semiglobular in shape, sometimes flattened and smooth, sometimes elevated and with a furrowed surface. It is of the same red color as the surrounding mucous mem- URETHROSCOPY* 197 brane. Depressions suggesting crypts may sometimes be seen about it. These are the openings of the prostatic sinus, and of the prostatic and ejaculatory ducts. The sinus joocularis {uterus or utriculus m.asculinus) opens at the anterior declivity of the caput gallinaginis as a fine slit. It is a little sac, of a lengthened pear shape, which passes up- ward and backward to the base of the prostate and ends between the ejaculatory ducts. It may be materially enlarged, so much so as to catch and arrest tlJe progress of an instrument toward the bladder, if the instrument is not guided along the roof of the posterior urethra. The 'posterior urethral funnel is very short. The lustre of the posterior urethral mucosa is less than that lining the anterior urethra. The posterior urethral folds are so shallow as often to convey the impression of their entire obliteration. The anterior houndary of the posterior urethra is naturally the posterior boundary of the anterior urethra. The withdrawal of the tube marks it clearly, not only by release from the tight grasp of the compressor upon the tube, but also by the appearance of the marked folds of the bulbous portion. Bleeding during posterior urethroscopy is not at all infre- quent, especially when it is made for the first time. Ueethroscopic Appearances. For the student's convenience, the appearances of the ure- thra are here alphabetically arranged. No pretence to any- thing more than a mere introduction to the study of urethro- scopic diagnosis is made. Bleeding in the posterior urethra occurs more readily than in health from mere contact with the tube in the soft infiltration of chronic posterior urethritis. Bleeding Sp)ots. — Where epithelial denudations have been followed by slight granulations, these bleed easily. Blood-vessels not visible in hard infiltrations. Brilliancy (see Lustre). Caput gallinaginis pale, yellowish color, lacks lustre, does not project, is not wrinkled, but is flat and smooth in hard in- filtration of the posterior urethra. 198 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA, Central figure appears as a wide, often distorted passage in liard (dry) infiltrations. Color, dull gray in hard infiltrations. Cyanotic, purplish color of posterior urethra evidences soft infiltration. Denudation, epithelial, in advanced inflammatory processes and in superficial traumatisms of the mucosa. Desquamation, epithelial, distinct, in hard infiltrations. Desquamation, epithelial, slight, in somewhat advanced in- flammation. * Dull, dry epithelium with lack-lustre appearance, indicates subepithelial inflammation of the glands. Their orifices are then not visible. Dull, uneven mucosa, when in the first stage of inflammation the cellular infiltration is denser than ordinarily. Epithelial denudation, in advanced inflammatory processes. Epithelium desquamating (see Desquamation, epithelial, dis- tinct and slight). Folds absent in hard, dry infiltrations. Folds grosser, thicker, coarser, broader and from four to six in number instead of from eight to twelve, in more dense cellular infitration than usual in the early stage of inflamma- tion. Gaping Glands. — The orifices of Littre's glands and of the Morgagnian crypts gape and are surrounded by a puffy, red, prominent wall, forming a distinct boundary from the healthy tissues, in the more severe forms of chronic gonorrhoea, with consequent infiltration around the crypts. Occasionally some secretion oozes from the orifices in this stage of urethritis mucosae or soft infiltration. Glands and crypts are always visible in first degree of hard infiltration as red inflamed spots. Glands and crypts are not visible, or but very few appear, in the second variety of infiltration (dry infiltration), as their orifices are covered by epithelia and connective tissue. Glandular Orifices.— More are visible than in health, when the mucosa is diseased. When the epithelial layer of the mu- cosa is destroyed, then the more deeply the mucosa is invaded, the greater is the exposed part of the glands. They appear as minute red specks, mostly in groups. When the megalo- URETHROSCOPY. 199 scope is used, the glandular form and ducts are made plainly visible. Granulations appear on spots that have been denuded of their epithelium. They often bleed readily at contact with the margin of the tube. Gray Color. — In hard, dry infiltrations the mucosa has a gray color. Grayish ojjaque veil covers mucosa in hard infiltrations. Hard injiltration is rare in the posterior urethra. Hard infiltration is the outcome of transformation of cellular into fibrous infiltration. Its urethroscopic manifestations nat- urally vary as this transformation progresses. Hillochy mucosa is sometimes seen in hard infiltrations. The mucosa has lost its brilliancy and may distinctly des- quamate. Injiltration, hard, rare in posterior urethra. Injiltration, soft, frequent in chronic posterior urethritis. Littres glands are grouped about the Morgagnian crypts. They are ordinarily not visible in health. The experienced urethroscopist, however, employing the megaloscope, in many cases can see the mouths of the normal Littre's glands and even part of their ducts as they descend beneath the epithelium of the mucosa. The mouths of these glands may remain visible a long time after the urethra has returned to health. They may also be invisible in disease, if the pathological process occurs subepithelially. The form of disease affecting these glands, whether visible or not, shows its results upon the Morgagnian <3rypts. Small red points are the mouths of Littre's glands in simple swelling. Large red points, projecting into the urethra, show that Littre's glands are in a state of infiltrative inflammation. The fibrillary connective tissue, always present in chronic gonor- rhoea, is then formed about the ducts and bodies of Littre's glands. This fibrillary connective tissue is caused by the finely granular infiltration of the acute inflammation. Littre's glands are not visible in the dry form of hard infiltra- tions. In this condition the epithelium looks dull (lack-lustre) and dry, and desquamates in spots. Lustre apparently increased by liquid (glycerin, cocaine, 200 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHOEA. mucus, urine) left on mucous lining. To jjrevent error, the surgeon should attempt to remove the excessive lustre by care- ful use of absorbent cotton attached to applicators. Lustre decreased with increased infiltration and in epithelial desquamation, with or without infiltration. The brilliancy is entirely lost in hard infiltrations. Lustre gone in epithelium covering glandular orifices, with dull, dry appearance of mucosa, indicates subepithelial inflam- mation of the glands. Lustre increased in subacute superficial urethritis. The mu- cosa is congested and swollen from cellular infiltration. Lustre of posterior urethra increased in soft infiltration. The Morgagnian crypts are visible in all chronic diseases of the urethra, and are modified according to the intensity of the disease of Littre's glands. The mouth of a crypt is larger than those of the surrounding Littre's glands, often appearing as a quite evident dark-red slit. The variations from simple swell- ing to infiltrative inflammation are similar to those which take place in Littre's glands. When the megaloscope is used, and slight pressure made upon an opening of a crypt by bending the urethra, pus may be seen welling from the red slit. Its patency (" gaping ") will then become more evident and show that it is not a tear in the urethra, but really a widely open emunctory duct. Neoplasms.— The most frequent tumors of the urethra are papillomata and fibrous polypi. Carcinoma of the urethra is very rare. Before Oberlaender diagnosed a primary carcinoma of the urethra in 1893, the disease was only accidentally dis- covered in its advanced stages during an operation. Ober- laender' s early discovery of this carcinoma enabled the patient to be operated upon promptly. A year later no evidence of the disease had recurred. Opaque grayish veil covers mucosa in severer forms of in- filtration. Posterior urethroscopy is not j^ermissible in acute or sub- acute posterior urethritis, in tuberculosis, or in acute prosta- titis. Prominence, reddish, within the mucosa, with a central dimple and invisible lumen, is seen when the inflammation has become follicular. The finger can feel these encapsulated crypts URETHROSCOPY. 201 as small hard nodules. Their breaking down may produce peri-uretliral abscess. Psoriasis mucosce uretliralis (Oberlaender) — see White Patches. Purple color, of posterior urethra — see Cyanotic Color. Red specl's with swollen, puffy surroundings, occasionally exuding a watery, milky, or purulent discharge, show in-, flammation of the Morgagnian crj^pts. See also Glandular Orifices. Resistance to urethroscopic tube as it is being introduced is felt in hard infiltrations. Rigid Urethra. — The denser the fibrous tissue in dry, hard infiltration, the more rigid does the urethra become ; in its fully developed form it shows white cicatricial tissue, spotted with groups of red orifices of Littre's glands. Seedy and uneven epithelial layer in severe infiltrations. Smoothness of epithelium lost in severer forms of infiltration of the mucosa. Specks, red — see Glandular Orifices. Specks, lohite—see White Patches. Stria, almost or quite obliterated in dense cellular infiltra- tions ; no vestige of them remains in hard, dry infiltration. In some normal urethras the striae are absent. Sivelling of mucosa of posterior urethra in soft infiltration. Transparency lost in hard infiltrations. Tumors — see Neoplasms. Ulcerations due to epithelial denudations of inflammatory origin are usually longitudinal. They may result from trauma- tism produced by excessive or violent dilatation. Ulceration of a circular tendency may be chancre or chancroid. Uneven and dull mucosa in denser cellular infiltration, at the first stage of inflammation. Uneven and seedy epithelial layer, in severe infiltration. Veil. — A thin veil seems to cover the urethra in hard infiltra- tion ; in spots elevated scales present. These gradually heal. TVJiite patches, irregular in shape from small specks to large patches, called "psoriasis mucosae urethralis " by Oberlaender. Kollmann found these psoriatic pellicles to consist of cumuli of firmly agglutinated epithelial cells, whose nuclei stained dis- tinctly with Bismarck brown. These epithelia were of polygonal pavement shape, rounded epithelia, and some high cylindrical ■202 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. epithelia as are found in the prostate. The course of this psoriasis is very chronic. Note : This chapter is elaborated from the report of my first public demonstration, in the Journal of Cutaneous and Genito- urinary Diseases for April, 1899, and from my article in the Journal of the American Medical Association for September 7th, 1899. XIV. THE PHOOFS OF CURE OF GONORRHCEA. To secure a patient who no longer presents any tangible evidences of gonorrhoea against auto-reinfection and possible infection of others, no case should be dismissed from treatment until all the tests at present known have resulted negatively in his case. Fig. 57.— Stripping Uretlira. While most of these have been mentioned incidental to other matters, all are here placed together for the practitioner's convenience. In describing them, a note is added to each test of the errors that may thwart its purpose. Stripping the t^ref/ira. —Patients, especially those anxious to THE PROOFS OF CURE OF GONORRHCEA. 203 demonstrate that they have recovered, squeeze the penis, some- times quite violently, to prove the absence of a discharge. The conformation of the organ renders this method futile in bring- ing to view any evidence of disease, even when the urethra has an appreciable quantity that can be produced with the proper technique, as follows : 1. Eest the four left fingers upon the outer side of the left corpus cavernosum, and the left thumb upon the opposite side, thus endeavoring to approximate the corpora cavernosa to each other and exercising a pressure, as if to squeeze the urethra from between them. 2. With the bent right index finger press the peno-scrotal angle backward as far as possible to the lower margin of the pubic arch. Firmly pressing the so bent finger upward and carrying this pressure steadily forward, any moisture thus ob- tainable will be brought to the meatus. It is not at all rare that a, large yellow, purulent drop replete with gonococci can be so stripped from the urethra long after all discharge has ceased. A great many patients, as anxious as the first mentioned, but in the opposite direction — namely, to prove that they are not cured — acquire remarkable dexterity in maintaining an urethror- xhoea by frequent strijDpings of the urethra. These can, at al- most all times, produce a transparent or translucent drop at the meatus. Its microscopical examination reveals mucus, urethral «pithelia, and occasionally some leucocytes. In either case, urethroscopic examination is required to de- termine the region or gland whence the drop comes, or to elicit, in the second category of cases, whether the drop the patient milks from his urethra is due to general excessive juiciness of the canal. In the former the treatment mentioned in Chapter IX. is applicable. But a patient who maintains the irritability of his urethra by continual milkings is more difiicult to manage. Arguments and persuasion are ordinarily of little avail; the conviction that he is incurable is usually deep-rooted in his mind, and is reinforced by each milking, wherein he persists until the convincing drop is brought forth. A good method for the treatment of such cases is to irrigate the urethra with four- per-cent. boric-acid solution and to order the patient, with a view to diverting his attention from persistent milkings, to inject a drachm or two of the same solution several times daily, if he 204: THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OP GONORRHCEA. cannot be otherwise dissuaded from the milking liabit. One case, after all else had failed, was cured by the cruelty of paint- ing the lower half of his penis with cantharidal collodion. The re- sultant blisters prevented his handling the organ for two weeks ; then they were permitted to heal. He did not resume the milk- ings, but persists in the firm belief that the blistering cured him. Possible Errors.- — Stripping the urethra may fail to produce a drop or an excess of moisture from a diseased anterior urethra, if the patient has urinated within a few hours. In many cases it can- not be made evident at all, unless the examination is made in the morning, if the patient has not urinated since the night before. If the drop cannot be stripped out during the da}-, and if for any reason the patient cannot be examined while his bladder holds the night's urine, the patient should be given several cover-glasses and be instructed to catch a small quantity of the morning drop upon one and press another cover-glass upon it. Thus the drop can be brought to the office for microscopical ex- amination. The fact that one specimen is found to be free froin gonococci does not prove their absence. It will always be best to make ten such examinations, two or three days apart, before finally concluding that the morning drop contains no bacteria. Even then it is by no means safe to declare the patient unable to infect others or to reinfect himself. Gonococci may be resid- ual in some part of the urethra, and by their presence pro- voke the non-bacterial drop. Therefore this test cannot be accepted as final, nor can the case be pronounced cured, until all the tests here recited have proven the absence of gonococci and the healthy condition of the urethra and its adnexa. The Urine. — AVhenever possible, examination of the urine for evidences of urethral disease should be made before the patient has jjassed any part of his night's accumulation in the bladder. Ordinarily' it is assumed that the first 50 c.c. passed in the morning suffice to wash out the anterior urethra. This quantity, however, does not seem sufficient in all cases. There- fore it is best always to have the patient j)ass first 150 c.c. into a. tube as directed (on page 25) in Chapter IV. , and to pursue the other steps there directed. Possible Errors. — On centrifuging clear urine, a deposit ma^ 'Posner: Diagnostik der Harnkrankheiten, Berlin, 1895. THE PROOFS OF CURE OF GOXORRHCEA. 205 be obtained. If not, a few drops of alcohol added to the speci- men will, on second centrifuging, throw down a slight deposit. In case this deposit, microscopically examined, shows thinned epithelium with very faint nuclei or none, the patient should be warned that an infiltration is at least beginning, and that he naust be at once treated by dilatations lest he become a victim of stricture and all it portends. Filaments, flakes, etc., have been discussed in other parts of this book (see page 144). Ramonacje. — The great master Guy on suggests this method of obtaining specimens from the deeper urethra for microscopic examinations. It consists in anointing with glycerin as large a bougie-a-boule as can be easily introduced. Immediately upon its withdrawal from the urethra, the substances that adhere, especially to its shoulder, are removed for examination. This bougie may, however, fail to bring with it any patho- logical products. Owing to a possible excess of glycerin or an over-juicy urethra, evidences of disease may be swept from the bougie before it is entirely withdrawn. Still, in the majority of cases it will be well to examine the substances adhering to the bougie, even when the purpose of its use was only to search for infiltrations, stricture, etc. Scraping the urethra is performed by holding a platinum loop in the alcohol or Bunsen flame until it is red hot, and, while not permitting its sterility so obtained to be impaired by contact with anything, to allow it to cool. Then, holding the penis as for stripping {vide Fig. 57) the cooled loop is gently passed into the urethra. As it is drawn out it is pressed against the urethral walls sufficiently to detach some of the adherent contents. They will at least fill the eye of the loop. Striking it upon a slide or upon a cover-glass furnishes a specimen for microscopical examination. After each such scraping the loop must be thoroughly re- sterilized by flaming, lest by it the next case so examined be in- fected, or, at least, the specimen taken from him be vitiated. Swabbing the Urethra. — When the urethral excess is too minute to be obtained by ramonage or scraping, sufficient moist- ure can be swabbed therefrom for examination. The swab is made by tightly wrapping a small quantity of borated cotton upon a sterilized platinum loop ; then lighting the cotton in the 206 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA flame and instantly blowing it out. A light rap with the handle of the loop upon a finger will cause the charred parts of the cotton to drop off. This swab may then be used without a lubricant to obtain a specimen. Its employment is naturally limited to the anterior third or half of the urethra. Residual Posterior Gonorrhoea — see Chapters IV., VIII., and X. Expression Urine. — The patient is laid upon a table and the index finger, prepared as directed in Chapter XI., is well an- ointed and inserted into the rectum. Avoiding the prostate, the pulp of the finger presses upon the posterior urethra by stroking it firmly from above downward against the j)ubis. The urine accumulating during this process will contain as much evidence of posterior urethral disease as can be detached by this method. Infection of the Prostate, Seminal Vesicles, or Cowper's Glands. — Stripping these adnexafor the purpose of obtaining specimens therefrom is described in Chapter XI. Possible Errors. — No attempt should be made to obtain speci- mens from the posterior urethra or the prostate, seminal vesi- cles, or Cowper's glands, at the same examination, lest their contents intermingle in the urethra and thus give no positive indications regarding the region infected. Beer Test. — ^A week after all evidence of gonorrhoea haa ceased the patient is ordered to drink, in the evening, double the quantity of beer or champagne he was in the habit of con- suming before they were forbidden him. This may, within twelve to thirty-six hours, produce a discharge, if any disturb- ance exists.. Microscopical examination of the discharge will decide its character. Silver and Bichloride Tests. — 'When the beer-test fails to pro- duce a discharge, an irritant irrigation of the anterior urethra with silver nitrate one per cent, or corrosive sublimate 1 : 5,000 will evoke one, lasting from eight to thirty-six hours. If the discharge so established contains gonococci, they most probably but not positively are located in the anterior urethra. Condom Test. — The other tests having resulted negatively, the patient is advised to use a condom at his next sexual inter- course and to bring it with its contents for microscopical ex- amination. It is most likely to contain, in addition to semen. THE PEOOFS OF CURE OF GONORRHCEA. 20T some of tlie contents of tlie uretliral mucosa and its glands, as well as any bacteria the reproductive apparatus may harbor. The various local tests suggested must then be employed to de- termine the region in which the bacteria are held. It would go beyond the province of this effort to discuss the morality of advising a patient to cohabit or to use a condom. The majority during the acuity of their sufferings invariably forswear sexual relations during the remainder of their lives. As a rule, the more vehement their asseverations in this regard the sooner will they again seek sexual gratification, often during the period when it is still positively forbidden. With or with- out permission, when evidences of the disease have passed and the tests before mentioned have yielded negative results, these patients will have coitus. Is it not best to avail one's self of their immorality for their own good and the protection of their pro- spective wives by asking for a condom specimen? When even the condom test has proven negative or when the physician's conscientious scruples cause its omission the final resort is Tlie Urethroscope (see Chapter XIII.). — If a healthy urethra is found, and its adnexa are proven to be normal, the case may be discharged. Preparation of a Specimen for 31ici'oscoiyical Examination. — For the convenience of those not rendered familiar with the tech- nique, by daily examination for gonococci, the method that is easiest and most reliable is here recapitulated : 1. Spread as thinly as possible upon a cleaned cover-glass the discharge, drop, filament, urinary sediment, or specimen taken with a sterilized platinum needle from the contents of a condom. 2. Let the specimen dry under a bell-glass, to protect it from dust or air microbes. This usually requires about three minutes. 3. Pass it three times through the opened Bunsen flame, with an even motion, to " fix " it. 4. Dropeosin (saturated solution in alcohol) upon the cover- glass and hold it over the closed Bunsen jet until a slight, visible evaporation results. 5. Hold it under a stream of water until all the eosin that can be washed away is carried off. If the cover-glass stood on. 208 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GOXORRHCEA. edge over filter paper gives the paper ever so slight a tinge, the washing has been insufficient, and must be repeated until noth- ing ,but clear water comes from the glass. 6. Drop two per cent, methylene blue upon the glass and let it rest there, covered, for five minutes. 7. Wash as described under 5, let it dry, and then mount it for examination. 8. Unstain by the Gram method. Physicians who cannot devote the ten or twelve minutes to this preparation of a slide will do well merely to take the speci- men on a cover-glass, place another cover-glass upon it, and send the specimen to a colleague or a bacteriological laboratory, for examination. For positive assurance culture experiments are necessary. These, however, cannot be made save hy a physician provided with a laboratory fitted for the purpose. XV. THE MARRIAGE OF GONORRHCEICS. The question that most frequently confronts the general practitioner, as well as the specialist, concerns the marriage of those who have had gonorrhoea, and the resumption of matri- monial relations by married infractors who acquired the disease extra domo. Advice in this regard cannot be lightly given. In support liereof a slight historical digression may be permitted. E. Noeggerath,' of New York, in 1872 asserted, as Ricord had before him, that eight hundred men of every one thousand living in large cities had gonorrhcea. The recently deceased eminent gynecological surgeon, Mr. Lawson Tait, went further in this, claiming that every man at least once during his life acquired clap. ^\Tiile obser^'ation and experience compel ac- ceptance of Tait's estimate as nearer the facts, the author can positively assert that at least one man, now almost fifty years of age, has not been so unfortunate. Noeggerath, in the same dissertation, and in the light of the treatment then employed, asserted that men infected with ' Noeggeratli ; Die latente Gonorrhoe im weiblichen Geschlecht, Bonn, 1872. THE MARRIAGE OF GONORRHCEICS. 209 gonorrhoea never recovered. He further insisted that ninety per cent, of these men, when they married, infected their wives. The eminent surgeon's views were fiercely combated, yet stanch in his convictions he, four years later, summarized his conclusions in a paper on the subject,' as follows : "1. Gonorrhoea in the male, as well as in the female, per- sists for life in certain sections of the organs of generation, not- withstanding its apparent cure in a great many instances. "2. There is a form of gonorrhoea, which may be called latent gonorrhoea, in the male as well as in the female. " 3. Latent gonorrhoea in the male, as well as in the female, may infect a healthy person either with acute gonorrhoea or gleet. " 4. Latent gonorrhoea in the female, either the consequence of an acute gonorrhoeal invasion or not, if it pass from the latent into the apparent condition, manifests itself as acute, chronic, recurrent perimetritis or ovaritis, or as catarrh of certain sections of the genital organs. "5. Latent gonorrhoea, on becoming apparent in the male, does so by attack of gleet or epididymitis. " 6. About ninety per cent, of sterile women are married to husbands who have suffered from gonorrhoea, either previous to or during married life." Noeggerath's conclusions were based purely upon clinical experience. They were in no wise essentially controverted Avhen three years later Neisser^ published his epoch-making discovery of the gonococcus. If Noeggerath's note of alarm needs further confirmation it is found in the statistics of the German empire for 1894. These show that of the women who died of diseases of the womb, or of its adnexa, eighty per cent, were proven to have succumbed to gonorrhoeal infection. They further show that of all chil- dren who became hopelessly blind after having been born with healthy eyes, eighty per cent, went into a life of darkness from gonorrhoea. Since 1894, the Crede method of swabbing the eyes of the new-born with two-per-cent. silver-nitrate solution ' Noeggerath : "Latent GonorrhcEa in the Female." Transactions of the American Gynecological Society, 1876. 'Neisser: "Eine der Gonorrhoe eigenthiimliche Mikrokokkenform." Centralblatt fiir medicinische Wissenschaften, No. 28. 1879. 14 210 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. lias saved many eyes. And since the irrigation treatment and a clearer understanding of the dangers of gonorrhoea have be- come more generalized, doubtless many women are saved from infection. It cannot for a moment be assumed that the men who caused the death of their wives or the blindness of their children mar- ried with the knowledge that they could produce such disastrous results. If there is one among the thousands who did so, no punishment known to any modern criminal code could ade- quately expiate his iniquity. With the ever-increasing atten- tion given by the profession to the appreciation of the dangers of gonorrhoea, it is to be hoped that this menace to human hap- piness will be eventually stamped out. It is perfectly true that many men to-day, uninformed of the seriousness of clap, boast of having had innumerable attacks of the disease and of having relieved themselves therefrom by trifling medication or advertised nostrums. It is exceedingly interesting to note that none of these boasts are made while the patient has gonorrhoea, and that he does not employ the vaunted preparations when he acquires a new attack. The physicians and those of the public who make clap a subject of witticism are not without their influence upon the people in general. All men, however, when they have gonor- rhoea, know that it was contracted from a woman, and it would be the extreme of pessimism to assert that a man, knowing that he can infect a woman, would marry. Still, it is difiicult to convince such a man, after he perceives no evidence of the dis- ease, that the danger of infecting his future wife may continue. For such it will be well to cite a typical case, couched in lan- guage within the reach of his intelligence. Five, ten, or more years after a man had gonorrhoea, time has almost if not entirely effaced the disagreeable incident from his recollection. He marries a girl, strong and healthy. The young wife soon begins to fade. Vague pains set in. If her friends love her, she will be twitted with advice and congratula- tions regarding the presumed coming maternit}'. Her form, too, suggests such possibilit3^ But by the time, or before, the child that is to make her still more loved by her husband is ex- pected, it is found necessary to seek professional advice. A cyst of the ovary, a Fallopian tube filled with pus, or THE MARRIAGE OF GONORRHCEICS. 211 some other dangerous disease is discovered. An operation, perilous to life, must be performed to save her. If she survive, she will no longer be a woman, for she cannot become a mother. The light of modern microscopy brought to bear upon the tumor, cyst, or other substance removed reveals gonococci. Eemember that this wreck, but a few short months ago a vigor- ous, healthy girl, was "as chaste as ice, as pure as snow." Eemember, too, that her husband presented no sensory evidence of the disease that killed his cherished wife. Killed — the word is advisedly employed — for, though she live, she is worse than dead; she is not only unsexed, but also physically and often mentally destroyed. If a patient is morally so debased that such an argument does not appeal to him, he should be made to understand what at least some of the complications and sequelae of gonorrhoea portend to him. He will listen to the fact that gonorrhoeal pus in ever so minute a quantity entering the conjunctivae can irre- mediably destroy his sight within twenty-four hours. Equally will he appreciate that his testicles can be invaded, rendering him impotent to further disseminate the disease. Little as he may care for the lives of others, he can be made to understand that even long after he observes any evidence of disease, he may die from the consequences of gonorrhoea. All these facts, impressed upon such a man, will induce him to submit to the tests tl^at will prove whether he is cured (Chap- ter XIV. ) and to seek treatment for the ailment, if it is discov- ered that he still carries the death-dealing microbes. Ignorance of the dangers of gonorrhoea is not limited to the mentally uncultured. The highest literary universities in our land do not teach their students even the veriest rudiments of genital physiology and pathology. The editor of one of our foremost American magazines, a man of wide general scientific attainments, expressed surprise when informed of the origin, prevalence, and dangers of gonorrhoea. The task of instructing and warning the public regarding the dangers of this ever-prevalent disease is left almost wholly to the medical profession. But such teaching can appeal only to those whose intelligence is of a grade sufiicient to grasp its importance. Others can be reached only by the law. All honor must be tributed to the legislators of Michigan, 212 THE IRRIGATION TREATMENT OF GONORRHCEA. who in their session of 1899 ' enacted that : " Any person who has been afflicted with syphilis or gonorrhoea, and has not been cured of the same, who shall marry shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof in any court of competent jurisdiction shall be punished by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars or more than one thousand dollars, or by im- prisonment in the state's prison at Jackson not more than five years, or by both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court," While an adulterer or anadultress might by perjury succeed in throwing the odium of this law upon an innocent party, the fact remains that Michigan stands in the front of the world in recognizing the dangers of uncured syphilis and gonorrhoea. Naturally this enactment must have been prompted by the phy- sicians of that State ; therefore the credit thereof belongs to our colleagues. But medical men are accustomed and satisfied to see the glory of their public work go to others, when humanity at large and individuals are benefited and protected thereby. 1 Michigan Montlily Bulletin of Vital Statistics, June, 1899. This little book has been written to place before those phy- sicians who may not be thoroughly familiar therewith — 1. The rationale and technique of irrigations in acute gon- orrhoea. 2. The advantages of dilatations and irrigations in chronic gonorrhoea. 3. The dangers of uncured gonorrhoea, and the means of locating the foci of the disease, especially after its external manifestations have subsided. 4. To urge physicians to use their influence for the dissem- ination of a better understanding of the disease. If in but one instance these purposes are accomplished, my efforts to that end will be amply rewarded. INDEX. Abortion of acute manifestations, 11 Abscess, follicular and peri-urethral, 38 Absence of gonococci from one speci- men not conclusive, 130, 137, 207 or reduction of sensation on ejac- ulation, 128 Accessory treatment, 34 Action of potassium permanganate, 8 Acute anterior gonorrhoea, 8 anterior gonorrhoea alone, rare, 8 posterior gonorrhoea, 19 Adenitis, gonorrhceal, see Lymphade- nitis Adhesions, preputial, 41, 88, 90 Adnexa invaded from posterior ure- thral infection, 21 Agglutination of the meatios, 136 Albarran instillator, 28 Albuminuria, 42 ; in posterior gonor- rhcea, 22 Alcohol, 36 Amusements aid in opposing neuro- ses from gonorrhoea, 34 Angemia, 42 Anaesthesia of urethra not necessary in irrigations, 18 Ansesthetizing urethra, 109 Anterior irrigations, 12; technique of, 14 Antinosin in inguinal adenitis, 81 Antrophors, 20 Anuclear epithelium in urine evi- dencing infiltration of urethra, 205 Apparent immunity from gonorrhCBa, 187, 208 Artificial oedema produced by irri- gations, 11 Artificial prolongation of coitus, 129 urethritis induced to ascertain presence of gonococci, 137, 206 Asepsis of shield and nozzles, 14 of urethra, 108 Aspermia, apparent, 128 Athletics, 37 Auto-reinfection in gonorrhoea, 170 Avoidance of carrying infections to patients by the irrigator, 7 Bacteruria, 144 Balanitis, 42 Balanoposthitis, 42 Ballooning urethra, 16 Bangs' lubricator, 153 Bartholin! 's glands a frequent site of residual gonorrhoea, 8 Bathing, 34 Beard on sexual neurasthenia, 83 Beck, radiogi'aphy of arteriosclerosis, 55 Bed, 35 Beer test, 206 Beer-tripper, 171 B^niqu^ sound, 106 Berg on general gonorrhceal infec- tion, 74 Bergson on ritual circumcision, 117 Beverages, 35 Bicycling, 37 Birch-Hirschfeld on epididymitis, 57 Bladder-drainage, continued, 111 ; in- terrupted, 112 Bladder, excessively strong solutions accidentally entering, 14, 16 inflammation of, see Cystitis in health, immune to gonorrhoea, 22 214 INDEX. Bleeding after urination in posterior gonorrlicea, 21, 23 at or after dilatation, 163, 164 see Hemorrhage Blind fistulse, 45 Blindness from gonorrhoea, 209, 211 Bloody emissions, 122 Bougie-k-boule, 205 Bracket irrigator, 6 Bubo, see Lymphadenitis Buller's dressing in gonorrhoeal oph- thalmia, 86 Buschke on skin diseases complicat- ing gonorrhoea, 116 Calculi, urethral, 71 Carbonated drinks prohibited, 35, 172 Carcinoma of urethra, 200 Care of irrigator, 5 Casper ointment, in epididymitis, 61, 65 ; suspensory bandage, 64 Catheter-fever prevented by irriga- tions, 12, 162 Catheter for vpashing urethra is repre- hensible, 20 Causes of chronic gonorrhoea, 126 Caustic potash test for pus in urine, 11, 144 Cavernitis, 45 Centrifuging urine, 204 Chancre, 47 Chancroid, 47 Chocolate-color emissions, 122 Chordee, 47 Chronic gonorrhoea, 125 ; treatment of, 145 Circumcision, 91 ; ritual, dangers of traumatism by, 117 ; in France not permitted except in presence of a physician, 118 Clap-threads, 68, 145 Cleanliness in irrigations, 13, 17 Clear urine not a positive evidence of health, 144 Clothing dilator, 151 Clots following urine, 21 in urine, 23 Cocaine before irrigations, not neces- sary, 18 Cohesion of lips ol meatus, 136 Coitus, incomplete, 46 Collodion to protect finger in rectal exploration, 177 Colombini on general gonorrhoeal in- fection, 73 Color of discharge and color of stain, 142 Combined rectal and vesical examina- tion of the prostate, 180 Comma filaments as evidence of pros- tatic disease, 69 Complications of gonorrhoea, 38 of posterior gonorrhoea, 22 Compressor as a protection to posterior urethra, 19 Condoms, a cause of auto-infection, 16 Condom test, 207 Condylomata, 48 Congenital strictures, 117 Constitutional infection, 73 symptoms of gonorrhoea, 22 treatment, 34 Covers for dilators, 151 Covyperitis, 50 Cowper's glands, examination of, 183 Cred6 method to protect the new-born from gonorrhoeal ophthalmia, 209 Cultm'e experiments, 208 Cure, proofs of, 202 Curette for urethral glands, 165 Cushing on gonorrhoeal peritonitis, 76 Cystitis, 53 Cystoscopy in enlarged prostate, 181 Daily examinations necessary, 58, 80 Dangers of irrigation, 14 Death from gonorrhoea, 76, 211 Defecation drop, 129 Defective irrigation apparatus, 1 technique, 1 De Keersmaecker on chronic urethri- tis, 19 Diday on stains from urethral dis- charges, 142 INDEX. 215 Dietetic irregularities producing re- currences of gonorrhoea, 171 Digital palpation of the urethral adnexa, 173 Dilatation, contraindications, 164 Dilatations, amount of, 162 ; forcible not permitted, 164; frequency of, 162 ; length of each, 162 ; not pain- ful, 149 ; technique of, 160 Dilator covers, 151 ; their steriliza- tion, 152 Dilators, manner of holding, 151 Discharge in chronic gonorrhoea, 130 ; increased after dilatation, 162 ; in posterior gonorrhoea, 22 Discharges of gonorrhceal pus from the posterior urethra, 131 Disturbed digestion in gonorrhoea, 12 Diverticle, see Urethral diverticulum Donne's caustic potash test for pus in the urine, 55, 144 Dressing glans after irrigation, 16 penis, 113 Dribbling of semen after coitus, 139 " Drinking away a clap," 36 Drop expressible from healthy ure- thra, 84 Duchastelet urinal, 112 Dynamic influence of instruments in the urethra, 149 Dysuria in posterior gonorrhoea, 24 Early symptoms of gonorrhoea, 10 treatment necessary, 11 Ejaculatio prsecox, 139 Ejaculations of semen, painful, 138 ; premature, 139; suppressed, 129 Electrolysis of infiltrated urethral glands, 166 Electrolytic puncture of infiltrations, 166 Emissions, bloody or chocolate color, 122 ; painful, 138 ; premature, 139; seminal, 140 in posterior gonorrhoea, 23 ; from irritable posterior urethra, 140 Englisch on foreign bodies in the urethra, 71 Eosin counter-stain for microscopic specimens, 207 Epididymitis, 55 Epispadias, 65 Epithelium in the urine, 66 ; thinned, an evidence of stricture, 66 Erections in posterior gonorrhoea, 23 painful, 82, 138 Eucaiue before irrigation not neces- sary, 18 ; in retention, 109 Evacuating bladder gradually in re- tention, 109, 110 Excessive moisture at meatus, 132 sexual desire, 133 Exercise, 36 Expressing urethral secretions, 202 Expression urine, 204 Extra-genital gonorrhoea, 9 Eye, gonorrhceal inflammation of, see Ophthalmia Failures in irrigation treatment; probable causes thereof, 1 Fainting during irrigation, 14 F^lick6 on irrigations, 1 Fever, m-ethral (catheter-fever), obvi- ated by irrigations, 12, 162 Fig-warts, see Condylomata Filaments in the urine, 144 Finger on the frequency of posterior invasion, 19 ; on purpura rheuma- tica as a complication of gonor- rhoea! processes, 116 ; on urethro- cystitis, 63 ; on epididymitis, 56 ; on prostatic filaments, 69 Fistula, urethral, 66 Flakes in the ui-ine, 144 Flexible sounds to prepare the urethra for dilatations, 149 Floaters in the urine, 67, 144 Follicular abscess, 38 Folliculitis, see Abscess von Frisch on examination of the prostate, 178 Food, 37 Force never permissible in dilatations, 164 Foreign bodies in the urethra, 70 ^ 216 INDEX. Foreskin, tight, in-igation of, 15 Frank on irrigations, 1 Frenum, short or rigid, 73 Fricke's method of strapping testicle (author's modification), 61 Fuller on seminal vesiculitis, 119 ; on tuberculosis of the seminal vesi- cles, 122 ; on examination of the seminal vesicles, 182 Fulminant type of posterior gonor- rhoea, 27 Funiculitis, 73 Fiirbringer on floaters in the urine, 67 ; on prostatic filaments, 69 j on over-treatment, 167 Genesic liyperaesthesia, 134 Gentleness essential in dilatations, 149 German statistics on death and blind- ness from gonorrhoea, 209 Gerson, scrotal elevating strips, 64 Gin, 38 Glands, urethral, infiltrated, syringe for their injection, 165 ; curette and electrolytic needle for their destruc- tion, 166 Glans, dressing, after irrigation, 16 Gleet, 77 Goldberg on results of irrigation treatment, 1 Gonococci proliferate by segmenta- tion, 10 Gonococcicidal action of hot water, 11 Gonococcus, an anaerobic microbe, 11 Gonocystitis, 120 Gonorrhoea and marriage, 208 bags, a cause for auto-infection, 17 recurrence from marital excesses, 169 Gonorrhoeal ophthalmia, 85, 209 Gouley on gonocystitis, 120; on in- cision through the rectum for ab- scess of seminal vesicles, 122 Gout, 77 Goutte militaire, 137 Granules in the lu-ine, 142 Guiard on causes of chronicity, 126 ; on classification of substances in the m-ine, 144; on floaters in the m-ine, 67 ; on gonorrhoeas that are chi'onic from the inception, 126, 135, 185; on "little ejaculations," 132 ; on mechanism of gonorrhoeal discharge from posterior urethra, 132 Guiteras on stricture of meatus, 118 Gumma of frenum, 39 Giiterbock on prostatic examination, 178 Guyon on classification of substances in the ui'ine, 144 ; classification of urinary filaments, 70 ; curved pos- terior dilator, 158; on discharges simulating spermatorrhoea, 131 ; on dressing penis, 113 ; on the dynamic influence of instruments in the ure- thi-a, 149 ; on foreign bodies about glans, 143 ; on instillations, 29; on irrigations, 1 ; on mechanism of emission of gonorrhoeal discharge from posterior urethra, 132 ; modi- fication of Mercier catheter, 114 ; on normal mucous filament, 68 ; on ramonage, 205 ; retention-catheter, 111; soimd, 106; on "stammering urination," 103 HEMATURIA in posterior gonorrhoea, 23 Hemorrhage, 77 ; ex vacuo, from rap- idly emptying the bladder, 110 Hsemospermia, 79, 122 Hairpin in tu-ethra, 72 Hatpin in urethra, 72 Heiman on the gonococcus, 77 Heitzmann on epithelia in urine, 66 ; on filaments, 70; on gonocystitis, 122 Hoffmann on examination of the pros- tate, 178 Horand suspensory bandage, 64 Horowitz on Cowperitis, 50 Horseback riding, 37 Hydrocele, 79 INDEX. 217 Hydrogen peroxide not a gonococci- cide, 11 Hyperaesthesia, 149 Hypospadias, 65 Immunity, apparent, to gonorrhoea, 187, 208 Imperious urination in posterior gon- orrhoea, 24 Increase of discharge after dilatation, 162 Increasing intervals of treatment to test progress of case, 167 Incrustated meatus, 136 Indications for irrigations, 12 Inefficient sounds, 148 Infection by apparatus, precautions against, 13 from a sound, 9 ; from a water- closet, 9 Infiltration-augesthesia, see Schleich Infusions in posterior gonorrhoea, 27 Inguinal adenitis, antinosin in, 81 Instillations of silver nitrate in pos- terior gonorrhoea, 29 Instrumentation of acutely inflamed urethra, 20 of the urethra or bladder, followed by irrigations, 12, 162 Intervals between dilatations, 162 ; between irrigations, 19 Intravesical irrigations, impediments to, 31 ; technique of, 29 Intromission not necessary for acqui- sition of gonorrhoea, 8 Invasion of organism from posterior urethra, 20 Irrigation in recumbent posture, 14; in standing posture, 14 Irrigation-treatment, statistics of re- sults, 1 Irrigations, conditions in which they can exercise no effect, 165 ; cure ninety per cent, of gonorrhoeas with- in fourteen days, 1 ; indications for, 12 ; prevent urethral fever, 12, 162 Irrigator, care of, 6 ; cleansing of, 6 ; description of, 2 Irritative urethritis from treatment of healthy methra, 69, 167 Itching in urethra, 135 Jadassohn on posterior gonorrhoea, 19, 102 Jamin on discharges simulating sper- matorrhoea, 131 Janet on irrigations, 2, 18 ; solutions employed, 125 ; treatment of chron- ic gonorrhoea, 146 Joly on ritual circumcision, 117 Klotz on the effect of carbonated drinks, 36 Kobner on prevention of catheter fe- ver, 28 Kofmann on urethral hemorrhage, 78 Kollmann on cavernitis, 46 ; electro- lytic needle for the destruction of urethral gland, 166 ; four-branched anterior dilator, 157 ; four-branched posterior dilator, 158; Guyon curve antero-posterior dilator, 159; irri- gating dilators, 159 ; photographs of the urethra, 189 ; on psoriasis mucosse urethralis, 201 ; syringe for urethral glands, 165 Lacebatiox of urethra avoided, 150, 154 Lacuna magna may arrest instrument, 150 Langlebert suspensory bandage, 64 Latent gonorrhoea, 168 Leleneff on gonorrhceal neuroses, 82 Letzel on posterior gonorrhoea, 102 Lewis on posterior gonorrhoea, 102 ; its frequency, 102; infection through the lymphatics, 115; semi- nal vesiculitis, 119 "Light attacks " of gonorrhoea, 126 Limits of dilatation and irrigation, 165 Linen, stains on, 131, 142 "Little ejaculations," 131 Lowenfeld on sexual neuroses, 83 Lowered physical condition predis- poses to gonorrhoea, 8 218 INDEX. Lustgarten and Mannaberg on pseudo- gonococci, 123 Lydston on athletics in genito-nri- nary diseases, 37 Lymphadenitis gonorrhceica, 80 Lymphangitis, 81 Malassez and Terrillon on epididy- mitis, 56 Malodorous ■urine, 143 Marital reinfection, 169 Marriage of gonorrhoeics, 208 Massage of prostate, 183 Masturbation, psychic, 170 Masturbator's premature ejaculations, 158 Measuring size of prostate, 180 Meatometer, Piffard's, 193 Meatus, agglutination of, 136 ; exces- sive moisture at, 132 ; swollen, 4, 10 Mechanism of gonorrhcBal infection, 8 of symptomatology of posterior gonorrhoea, 21 Megaloscope, 192 Mercier curve catheters, 114 Merciu-ic bichloride test, 206 ; in pos- terior gonorrhcBa, 26 Methylene blue in differentiation be- tween anterior and posterior gon- orrhoea, 25; stain for gonococci, 208 Michigan's law on the marriage of gonorrhoeics, 211 Microscope, preparing specimen for, 207 Milking urethra, 133 ; maintains ure- throrrhoea, 203 Moisture, excessive, at meatus, 132 Morgagnian crypts, 196, 200 Morning drop, 137 Muco-purulent filaments, 144 Mucous filaments, 144 Mucus, urethral, augmented early in gonorrhoea, 10 Murcell on urethral rugosities, 150 Neissee on the gonococcus, 209 Neoplasms in the urethra, 166 Nervous patients, irrigations of, 14 Neuroses evoked by gonorrhoea, 26 ; by normal filament, 69 gonorrhoeal, 82 ; in prostatitis, 107 Nitze-Oberlaender tubes, 190 Noeggerath on gonorrhoea in women, 208 Nogu^s-Wassermanu diplococcus, 123 Normal filament, its discovery as a cause for neurasthenia, 69 Nosophen in balanitis and balanopos- thitis, 43 ; in scrotal erosions from strapping, 63 Nozzles for various sized meatus, 4 mode of attachment, 5 Nuclei of urethral epithelia thinned or absent in stricture, 66 Oberlaender anterior dilator, 154 ; antero-posterior dilator, 159 ; B^- nique carve posterior dilator, 157 ; on carcinoma of the urethra, 200 ; on cavernitis, 46 ; on chronic m'e- thritis, 126 ; on the treatment of chronic gonorrhoea, 146 ; on dilata- tions, 148; on "melting" infiltra- tions, 164 ; on splitting infiltrations, 166 ; on psoriasis mucosae urethra- lis, 201 Obstacles to dilatation, 154, 164 Odor of urine changed by drugs, 143 CEdema, artificial, induced by irriga- tions, 11 ; by gonorrhcea, 85 Office arrangement, 33 Orcho-epididymitis, 55 Orgasm suppressed, 129 Ophthalmia, gonorrhoeal, 85, 209 Otis on catarrhal urethritis, 133 ; di- vulsor, 148 Over-treatment, 84, 166 Packing urethra to arrest bleeding, 78, 164 Pain after urination in posterior gon- orrhoea, 23, 24; connected with an attack of gonorrhoea, relieved by ir- rigations, 11 ; increased when local INDEX. 219 anaesthetics have worn off, 18 ; on urination after dilatations, pre- vented by irrigation, 161 Painful erection, 82 urination, 10; absent in gonor- rhosa, 11 Painlessness of irrigations, 17 Palpation of urethral adnexa, 173 Paraphimosis, 86 Patient, preparation of, for irriga- tions, 12 Periarthritis, see Rheumatism Period of incubation, 9 Peritonitis, gonorrhceal, 76 Peri-urethral abscess, 38 Permanent catheterization, 112 Phimosis, 88 Phosphatui'ia, 144 Physician's urethra infected from mi- croscopic specimen, 9 Piffard meatometer, 193 Ploss on ritual circumcision, 117 Pollutions, 101 Posner on condylomata, 50 ; on poste- rior gonorrhoea, 19 Posterior gonorrhoea, acute, 19; avoided by iiTigations, 20; causes of, 20 ; diagnosis of, 25 ; evoking neurosis, 26 ; fulminant type, treat- ment of, 27 ; presumed recovery without treatment, 21, 26 ; strength of irrigation solutions in, 26 ; symp- toms, 20 Posterior irrigations, technique of, 29; urethra, examination of, 196 Postures in irrigation, 13 Potassium permanganate, strength of solutions, 18 Premature discontinuance of treat- ment, 167 ; ejaculations from mas- turbator's or other irritable poste- rior urethra, 139 Premonitory symptoms of gonorrhoea, 10 Preparation of patient for irrigation, 12 Prepuce, adhesions of, 41, 88, 91 ; tight, irrigations of, 15 Prevention of pregnancy, 129 Prolongation of coitus, 129 Proofs of cure of gonorrhcea, 202 Prostate, massage of, 183 ; aided by fixing prostate with a sound, 183 Prostatic examination by sound in the bladder and finger in the rectum. 180 ; filaments, 69 Prostatitis, acute, 102 ; chronic, 107 Psoriasis mucosae uretliralis (Ober- laender), 201 Psychic masturbation, 170 Psychrophor to aiTest urethral bleed- ing, 164 Purulent filaments, 144 Pus in urine, caustic potash test for, 11, 55, 144 Pyuria, 11, 144 Quiescent gonorrhcea, 168 Ramoxage, 205 Rectal irrigations in prostatitis, 104 Eecumbent posture, irrigating in, 14 "Recurrent " gonorrhcsa, 168 Relapse of acute symptoms from dila- tations avoided by irrigations, 161 Relative sizes of bougies and dilators, 163 Residual gonorrhcea, 168 ; in women, 184 Retention catheter, 111 of urine, 24, 108 Rheumatism, gonorrhceal, 114 Rona on posterior gonorrhoea, 102, 115 Rugosities on floor of urethra, 150 Santal oil in posterior gonorrhcea, 27 Sascke on urethral injuries from cir- cumcision, 118 Schleich's infiltration in circumcis- ion, 92; in removal of inguinal glands, 81 Scott on the dangers of gonorrhcea, 127 Scraping urethra, 205 Scrotal erosions from strapping, 63 Second urine turbid, not an infallible evidence of posterior urethritis, 25 220 INDEX. Semen, bloody or chocolate color, 102, 122 ; ejaculation of, 132 ; premature emission of, 139 Seminal dribbling after coitus, 139; emissions, 101 ; in posterior gonor- rhoea, 23 ; vesicles, examination of, 182 ; stripping of, 183 ; vesiculitis, 119 Senn on tuberculosis of the genito- ui'inary organs, 56 Sequelfe of gonorrhoea, 38 Sexual desire, excessive, 133 Shield, cleansing of, 7 Shi-eds in the urine, 144 Simulated anterior gonorrhoea, 140 ; spermatorrhoea, 131 Silver nitrate in posterior gonorrhoea, 26 ; test, 206 Skin diseases complicating or follow- ing gonorrhoea, 115 Sounds, inefficient, 148 Spermatic cord, inflammation of, 73 Spermatorrhoea, simulated, 131 Staining for gonococci, 207 Stains on linen, 131, 142 Stammering urination (Guyon), 103 Sterilization of dilator cover, 152 Sternberg, smear preparation, 131 Stewart, location of seminal vesicles, 120 Stone in urethra, 71 Stopcock, author's, 4 " Strain " producing gonorrhoea, 171 Straining in posterior gonorrhoea, 24 Strapping testicle, 61 Stricture, evidenced by thinned ure- thral epithelium in ui'ine, 66, 117 ; tight, 149 Stripping seminal vesicles, 183 Strong injections as a cause of poste- rior gonorrhoea, 20 Suppositories in prostatitis, 105 Suspensory bandages, 38 ; as a preven- tive of epididymitis, 57 Swabbing urethra, 205 Swinburne on irrigations, 1 Symptoms of acute gonorrhoea, 10 Syphilis, prevention of infection by nozzles, 8 Syringe, Kollmann's capillary, for urethral glands, 165 Tait on the frequency of gonorrhcea, 208 Tamponing urethra, 78, 164 Taylor on extragenital infection, 9; on the frequency of posterior infec- tion, 19 ; on gonocystitis, 121 ; definition of phimosis, 88; phimo- sis scissors, 44 ; on skin diseases in gonorrhoea, 115 ; on slitting fore- skin, 44 Technique of dilatations, 160 Tenesmus in posterior gonorrhoea, 24 Thiimmel on the impropriety of infect- ing a healthy urethra for purposes of investigation, 74 Tickling in urethra, 135 Tight foreskin, irrigations in, 15 strictui'es, 149 Time consumed in irrigations, 18 Tobacco, 38 ; poultices in epididymi- tis, 65 Traumatisms of the urethra, 117 Treatment of chronic gonorrhoea, 145 " Tripperfctden," 67 " Tro7npeurs," 129 Tuberculosis of the geni to-urinary or- gans, 56, 122 Tm-bid urine, 11, 143 Urethea, female, frequent site of re- sidual gonorrhoea, 8 must not be washed with a cathe- ter, 20 ; traumatisms of, 117 Urethral adnexa, palpation of, 173 bleeding, conti'ol of, 164 calculi, 71 fever prevented by irrigations, 12, 162 fistula, 66 glands, Kollmann's syringe for, 165 neoplasms, 166 rugosities, 150 INDEX. 221 Urethritis ab ingestis, 171 ; ex libi- dine, 170; irritative, from treat- ment of healthy urethra, 69 Urethrocystitis, 53 Urethroprostatic infection, 123 Urethrorrhcea maintained by milking urethra, 131 Urethroscope, author's, 190 Urethroscopy, 188; technique of, 192 Urethrospasm, avoided, 150 ; imped- ing dilatations, 163 Urinal, Duchastelet, 112 Urination drop, 129 Urination, increased frequency early in gonorrhoea, 10 ; painful, 10, 11 ; painful at beginning, from incrus- tated meatus, 136 ; painful from local and constitutional disturbances, 139 Urine, brought in bottles useless for examination of floaters, 70 ; urine, clear, 144 ; in chronic gonorrhoea, 142 ; examination of, in posterior gonorrhoea, 25 ; of gonorrhoeic should be examined daily, 24 ; mal- odorous, 143 ; retention of, 11, 24 108; scalding, 10, 11; tubes, 25; turbid, 11, 143 Urotropin, 36 Verhoogen on posterior urethritis, 19 Vesical tenesmus, 24 Vesiculitis, 119 Waiting for acute stage to pass off, a serious error, 11 Wasiliew on ritual circumcision, 117 Weichselbaum on condylomata, 48 White and Martin on the early symp- toms of gonorrhoea, 10 ; on posterior urethritis, 20 ; on albuminuria in posterior urethritis, 22; on balani- tis, 42 ; rectal irrigator, 104 ; sus- pensory bandage, 64 White wine, young, producing ure- thritis, 171 Wife, danger of infecting from resid- ual gonorrhoea, 168 Women, residual gonorrhoea in, 184 Wbssidlo on the need of rectal exam- ination, 20 ; on prostatitis, 102 ; on stricture, 116 VON Zeissl suspensoiy bandage, 64 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES This book is due on the date indicated below, or at the expiration of a definite period after the date of borrowing, as provided by the niles of the Library or by special ar- rangement with the Librarian in charge. 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