This little book of rules and directions, which has been carefully prepared by an experienced physician, and which is herewith presented to our readers as an accompaniment to the Improved Portable Syringe, is not intended as a _medical work or treatise on the human system_, which are often printed to accompany instruments of the kind, and which few people ever read or care about, but is intended merely as a guide in the administration of the more simple remedies in the form of injections, well knowing that the majority of the people had rather rely on the advice of an experienced physician in all critical cases than their own judgment, formed from reading books of the kind. BOSTON, January, 1856. The Uses of Injections. Injections, or Clysters, are liquid substances or medicines injected into the lower intestines by mechanical means, for the purpose of promoting alvine discharges, relieving costiveness and cleansing the bowels. They are also sometimes administered to nourish and support patients who cannot swallow aliment, to evacuate the bowels without purging, to affect the system through the intestines, to remove worms from the rectum, to cure other disorders of the rectum, to lessen diarrhœa or dysentery, to alleviate spasms in the stomach and intestines, to produce other medicinal effects in the stomach, when all other curative means are too irritating. Prompt in operation, they are very useful in inflammatory affections of the bladder, womb, liver, kidneys, and lungs; and for the relief of hysterics, croup, determination of blood to the head, and convulsions; also in urethral strictures, urinal retention, flooding after child-birth, and in removing the after-birth, when nature fails to do so. When warm, they are of the greatest service in cases of suspended animation; and for the purpose of nutrition they alone have prolonged life for over ten weeks. Carefully administered, they are always safe. Authorities upon Injections. It is not necessary to accumulate the evidence of physicians concerning their utility. Every practitioner of medicine can recall the cases, in which a perfect syringe would have saved hours of pain, and in which he could find only the most inefficient aid from a leaky barrel and a loose piston. Dr. Pereira, of London, author of one of the best treatises on Therapeutics, says: "Warm water is injected into the rectum to excite alvine discharges, to promote the hæmorrhoidal flux, to diminish irritation in the large intestine, or in some neighboring organ, as the uterus, bladder, prostate gland, &c.; and to bring on the menstrual action. Thrown into the vagina, it is used to allay uterine irritation and pain, and to promote the uterine discharge." And again: "Cold water is thrown into the rectum to check hæmorrhage, to expel worms, to allay local pain, to rouse the patient in poisoning by opium."