354 PLAIN FACTS FOR OLD AND YOUNG 



grounds ; for it is rational to suppose that proper treat- 

 ment, applied directly to the seat of disease, must be 

 at least equally efficacious with methods less direct. 



As heretofore explained, in the more severe cases 

 the urethra is found in a very irritable condition. It is 

 hyper-sensitive, especially in that portion just in front 

 of the bladder, where the ejaculatory ducts open into 

 it. "We have also seen how this condition is one of the 

 chief exciting causes of emissions. The remedies de- 

 scribed for allaying this irritation are all excellent and 

 indispensable; but there is another method of great 

 value. This consists in the passage of a suitable instru- 

 ment, a sound or bougie of proper size, two or three 

 times a week. By the aid of this means, the abnormal 

 irritation will often diminish with magical rapidity. 

 The passage of the instrument, of course, needs to be 

 done with great delicacy, so as to avoid increasing the 

 irritation ; hence it should not be attempted by a novice. 

 Lack of skill in catheterism is doubtless the reason why 

 some have seemed to produce injury rather than bene- 

 fit by this method of treatment. 



Use of Electricity.— The use of electricity in con- 

 nection with that of the sound, adds greatly to its 

 utility. By means of the metallic instrument, also, elec- 

 tricity may be applied directly to the point of greatest 

 irritation; and its soothing effect is sometimes really 

 wonderful, as the following case will show: 



The patient, a man of unusual physical develop- 

 ment, was suffering from nocturnal emissions and di- 

 minished sexual power, the result of early indiscretions 

 and marital excesses. One of his most unpleasant 

 symptoms was severe pain in the portion of the urethra 

 near the openings of the ejaculatory ducts. After he 

 had been suffering more than usual for a few days^ we 



