Thuja for Anal Prolapsion.

Selected writings of A. Jackson Howe.

The use of thuja in anal prolapsion was original with Dr. Howe. See also papers on the use of thuja in the "Treatment of Naevus," and on "Thuja Again."—Ed. Gleaner.

THUJA FOR ANAL PROLAPSION.—Children and elderly persons are somewhat liable to profusion of the anal folds during defecation. The defect hinges upon paresis of the fundament—partial paralysis of the defecatory apparatus. The treatment should be both local and systemic. "Sulphur on Sunday" is needed, if not on more frequent occasions. Pepper with food is generally helpful. Cayenne will leave a burning sensation after it has traveled the entire length of the alimentary canal. The bowels are to be kept free from constipation and looseness—the middle course is safest.

Locally stramonium may be employed to advantage, and so may hamamelis, but thuja is specifically a topical restorative. It may be injected hypodermically, or applied as a lotion, reduced or diluted with water. It may be compounded with stramonium, hamamelis, and glycerine, the combination proving curative or restorative. A small quantity of the mixture may be injected within the anal apparatus or utilized as a suppository. Thuja is an excellent remedy to be applied in "orificial surgery;" it stimulates the sphincters and favorably impresses "post-rectal ulcers." Thuja blows both hot and cold; it will impart tone to relaxed sphincters and relax a rigid grip. The agent operates salutarily upon hemorrhoids, and restrains the dribbling of vesical incontinence. No "orificial surgeon" should be without the information here imparted. It will contribute pucker to the lips of a whistler, and prevent the involuntary discharge of flatus.—HOWE, Eclectic Medical Journal, 1890.

The Biographies of King, Howe, and Scudder, 1912, was written by Harvey Wickes Felter, M. D.