Am.  Jour.  Pharm  ) 
Mar.,  1878.  j 
Soluble  Medicated  Bougies. 
became  a  method  of  treatment  for  gonorrhoea,  etc.,  among  some  few 
physicians.  The  idea  of  suppositories  being  then  prevalent,  they  were 
called^  urethral  suppositories,  and  moulds  were  introduced  by  several 
manufacturers  for  their  preparation. 
They  generally  were  made  of  cacao  butter,  and  were  about  2  to  3 
inches  in  length  and  T3-g-  inch  in  diameter,  generally  tapering  to  a  blunt 
point.  These  were  used  in  practice  only  to  a  very  limited  extent,  and  the 
matter  appears  to  have  slumbered  until  a  few  years  ago,  M.  Reynal^ 
a  pharmacien  of  Paris,  introduced  the  u  Porte-Remede,"  as  he  termed 
them.  They  immediately  attracted  considerable  attention  from  the 
French  physicians,  and  a  number  of  remarkable  cures  were  made  by 
them  in  the  hospitals  of  Paris.  They  were  soon  after  introduced  into 
the  United  States  by  Mr.  Louis  Bock,  of  New  York,  and  met  with 
considerable  sale,  their  high  price,  however,  being  a  great  obstacle  to 
their  general  adoption. 
Recently,  Messrs.  J.  C.  Allan  &  Co.,  of  Buffalo,  have  taken  a  patent 
for  the  manufacture  of  a  similar  article. 
The  idea  of  the  treament  of  gonorrhoea  and  gleet  by  means  of  these 
bougies  seems  to  be  a  good  one.  It  is  well  known  that  very  few  who 
have  occasion  to  use  urethral  injections  do  so  with  much  advantage,, 
and  often  do  more  harm  than  good  by  their  unskillful  use  of  the 
syringe  ;  so  that  if  a  remedy  can  be  obtained  which  will  do  away  with 
this  objection,  a  great  step  will  be  made  in  the  treatment  of  these  dis- 
eases. It  is  also  a  well-known  fact  to  all  medical  men  that  many  cures 
have  been  produced  by  the  introducing  of  a  plain  metal  bougie,  or  one 
slightly  smeared  with  some  medicated  ointment.  It  would  seem  to  be 
much  better,  then,  to  have  a  bougie  elastic,  so  as  to  be  easily  entered,  and 
made  of  some  suitable  material  which  can  be  variously  medicated,  and 
and  at  the  same  time  to  be  slowly  soluble  by  the  heat  and  secretions  of 
the  urethra,  so  as  to  bring  remedial  agents  in  close  contact  with  the 
diseased  parts.  It  would  thus  exercise  the  double  action  of  relieving 
by  causing  a  distension  of  the  urethra,  thus  compressing  the  capillaries 
and  reducing  congestion,  as  well  as  the  curative  power  which  the  med- 
icines dissolved  in  it  would  exercise.  It  would  also  be  of  service  by 
separating  the  inflamed  surfaces,  preventing  their  adhering  and  forming 
strictures,  etc. 
The  "  Porte-Remede  "  of  M.  Reynal  are  bougies  about  5J  inches 
long  and  J-  inch  in  diameter,  very  stiff  and  hard,  and  indeed  quite  brit- 
