Those great natural forces, steam and electricity, although their value was recognized, yet required the aid of inventive genius to develop their possibilities; in fact, it has required three-fourths of a century to bring the locomotive to its present state of perfection, while the potentialities of electricity are as yet only surmised. This being so in matters that offer a rich pecuniary harvest to the inventor, it is little matter for surprise that improvement in a means of combating disease should progress slowly. In the first place, it was a new departure, unheralded to the world, and frowned upon by the members of the orthodox medical schools; consequently there was no tempting bait of a handsome profit to encourage the inventor, and until lately the indifference to matters pertaining to health was proverbial. When Dr. Hall commenced his famous experimentation upon himself, the only appliance available for the purpose was the old-fashioned bulb syringe, which is simply a flexible rubber tube with an egg-shaped receptacle in the center. One end of the tube is inserted in the rectum, while the other end is immersed in a vessel of water, the injection of the fluid being accomplished by alternately compressing and relaxing the bulbous portion. It is needless to say that the process of "flushing the colon" copiously, the only effectual way, was a tedious, inconvenient and imperfect matter with such a crude appliance. After the lapse of a great number of years the "gravity" or "fountain" syringe was invented, which consisted of a rubber bag with a long flexible tube attached to its lower end. The bag was suspended from a nail or hook several feet above the individual, the water being forced into the body by gravity, the pressure being increased or diminished by raising or lowering the bag. This was a distinct advance upon the bulb syringe, but it still left a great deal to be desired. In the first place, they are both exceedingly tedious, a serious objection in the case of weakly or elderly people; secondly, both methods necessitate the uncovering of the lower portion of the body, which is decidedly unpleasant; and, most serious of all, it is impossible to prevent the admission of air into the intestine, and that is a fruitful source of pain and discomfort. It should, however, be borne in mind that both of these appliances were devised for an entirely different class of operation (namely, vaginal douching), and were only used for intestinal treatment because there was nothing better at hand.