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For Mr Morison.

The bearer Mr Morison has come
to ask it my advice & I think it proper to ad¬
dress it to you who will execute it with great skill & ex¬
actness.

I am thoroughly persuaded there is no venereal
taint remaining about him but that the small complaints he
has in the Urethra are indeed the consequence of for¬
mer ailments but are now entirely local & without any
virulence attending them. I have very often met with such
& have often found them difficult & obstinate & have
been obliged to let them remain in some degree for
life. But this has generally happened from the faulty re¬
gimen of the patient or from his not bearing the necessary
remedies The only remedy that I can depend upon is
the use of Bougies & these you must practise with Mr
Morison. If you are not properly provided let
me know & I shall endeavour to supply you. If
you make them yourself allow me to observe that neither
Mercurial nor Escharotic are necessary or proper in
the Composition. All that is necessary is a plaister of a pro¬
per consistence & a good formation that will give
a bougie neither too rigid nor too flexible. Slender
& flexible points are a great fault. The use of them
should be brought on by very slow degrees, the
introduction to be very gentle & carried the due length
by repetition rather than force. I have known one of
the best surgeons in London take 3 days to pass a
bougie. When they are introduced they are not to

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remain long at first but longer & longer by
degrees. He is never to make water with the bougie
in the Urethra. When introduced & to remain long
they ought always to have a strong thread & of some
length tied to the outer end to prevent the bou¬
gies being sucked in too far. Hogs lard or a
mixture of this with suet is fitter than oil for anointing
the bougies when to be introduced. Immediately after voi¬ding Urine when the Urethra is full of aqueous mois¬
ture is an improper time for attempting the bougie
& it is sometimes of use to inject a little fine oil
before making the attempt. I should have said at the
beginning that I consider the ailment as a stricture &
therefore that the bougie is the proper remedy &
the same consideration implies that they must be employed
for a long time. As the irritation & inflammation
of the Urethra is the only circumstance that inter¬
rupts this practice it is not only necessary that the
practice should be proceed by slow degrees only but
at the same time a very cooling regimen must be
observed. His diet should be very moderate his strong
drink exceeding little & his exercise as little & as
gentle as possible. Walking riding & ro¬
gering are all very bad for him. It is of
use to keep the wine very mild & therefore G.
Arab. powders but without Nitre should be taken
frequently. It is proper also to avoid everything salt
or acrid in diet. Costiveness will do harm &
to be obviated by gentle means.