OKGANOTHERAPY AND HORMONOTHERAPY 117 



dition develops after laparotomy, or in the course of peritonitis or of 

 infectious disease. My own experience along these lines has been mainly 

 in its use to relieve the abdominal distention which so often develops in 

 the course of pneumonia. Here such injections have almost uniformly 

 secured the desired result, so that in my own practice it has become the 

 routine method of combating meteorism in infectious disease. 32 In the 

 meteorism of typhoid fever, fear of causing hemorrhage or perforation has 

 held me back from its use, but I am not certain that this timidity is justi- 

 fied. While Musser has reported good, results in the treatment of chronic 

 atonic constipation by the oral administration of extracts of the whole pitui- 

 tary or its posterior portion, in acute conditions the drug must be given by 

 needle. In order to obtain more certainly the desired effect on the 

 intestines, Blair Bell (c) (1919) advises that a turpentine enema be given 

 10 minutes after the pituitary extract has been injected. In cases of para- 

 lytic distention of the stomach, he advises washing out the stomach ten 

 minutes after giving the injection. An absolute contraindication to this 

 use of the drug is the existence or even the suspicion of any form of 

 obstruction, or perforation, or of acute appendiceal trouble. Barker (per- 

 sonal communication) has observed striking relief in episodic marked 

 distention in a case of Hirsehsprung's disease. 



Bladder. The pressor effect exerted on the bladder by posterior 

 pituitary extract has led to its administration in paretic conditions of the 

 bladder. Miller cites several authors who report that these are especially 

 valuable in postpartum and postoperative retention. From several of 

 my 'surgical colleagues I have reports of their successful employment under 

 such conditions, Blair Bell (c) (1919) reports that in his experience the 

 action on the bladder of even large doses is uncertain, and that in post- 

 operative paresis he has never seen it cause emptying of the bladder, 

 unless the bladder was fully distended, and that even then the extract 

 often failed to produce the desired result. 



The successful employment of the extract in nineteen cases of enuresis 

 has been reported by Mikhailow. Ten of his cases were children from 5 to 

 10 years of age, who were cured by doses of 0.2 to 1.0 c.cm. of pituitrin 

 given by injection once a week for three or four weeks. Cure of enuresis 

 in cases presenting signs of hypopituitarism has been repeatedly reported 

 as one of the beneficial effects of pituitary therapy. 



Bronchial Asthma. Bronchial asthma is another condition in which 

 good results are claimed from the use of posterior pituitary extract, usually 

 in combination with epinephrin, as first suggested by Weiss. While 

 there seems to be little or no pharmacological basis for this method 

 of treatment, its value is attested by a number of observers. 33 Bourgeois 



32 The experience of Miller (1916) is directly contrary to this. 

 38 When estimating the therapeutic value of this combination, the almost uniformly 

 successful use of epinephrin alone must not be forgotten. 



