ons into the rectum for rawness of the mucous membrane, the
following is well recommended. Use three drams of this at one time.

Fluid extract Witch Hazel 2 ounces
Fluid extract Ergot 2 drams
Fluid extract Golden Seal 2 drams
Compound tincture Benzoin 2 drams
Carbolized Olive or Linseed Oil 1 ounce
Carbolic acid 5 per cent

Mix and shake well before using.

9. For the same purpose:--
Ichthyol 1 dram
Olive oil 1 ounce

Mix and apply in the rectum on a piece of cotton.

[146 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]

PILES. (Hemorrhoids).--Hemorrhoid is derived from two Greek words, meaning
blood and flowing with blood. "Pile" is from a Greek word meaning a ball
or globe. Hemorrhoids, or piles, are varicose tumors involving the veins,
capillaries of the mucous membranes and tissue directly underneath the
mucous membrane of the lower rectum, characterized by a tendency to bleed
and protrude. They were known in the time of Moses.

Varieties.--There are the external (covered by the skin) and the internal
(covered by mucous membrane).

Causes.--Heredity. More frequent in males. Women sometimes suffer from
them during pregnancy. Usually occurs between the ages of twenty-five and
fifty. Sedentary life, irregular habits, high-grade wines and liquors, hot
and highly seasoned and stimulating foods. Heavy lifting. Those who must
remain on their feet long or sit on hard unventilated seats for several
hours at a time. Railway employees, because they take their meals any time
and cannot go to stool when Nature calls, causing constipation. Purgatives
and enemata used often and for a long time. Constipation is perhaps the
most frequent cause: when a movement of the bowels is put off for a
considerable time the feces accumulate and become hard and lumpy and
difficult to expel. If this hard mass is retained in the rectum, it
presses upon the blood vessels interfering with their circulation and by
bruising the vessels may induce an inflammation of the veins when the
hardened feces are expelled; straining is intense, the mass closes the
vessels above by pressure and forces the blood downward into the veins,
producing dilatation when the force is sufficient. One or more of the
small veins near the anus may rupture and cause a bloody (vascular) tumor
beneath the mucous membrane or skin.

External Piles.--Two kinds, venous pil