Any rearguard action may be critical and is sometimes fraught with danger. Such a concept, however, does not usually apply to what is commonly thought of as the friendly enema, gently cleansing and often soothing. Formerly more highly considered as a valuable therapeutic adjunct than it is today, it has come down through the ages variously designated as clysma, clyster, enema of high or low degree, soapy or sudsless, nutrient or lacking nourishment, and even dignified by such a technically descriptive term as "colonic irrigation."
The lexicographers, going into greater detail, refer to analeptic enemas containing salt to stimulate thirst; blind (or water free) enemas to relieve flatulence; nutrient enemas presenting various bills of fare, such as Dobell's, bearing scraped boiled meat, pancreas emulsion, boiled arrowroot, pepsin and pancreatin; Ewald's, with a content of eggs, wheat flour boiled in a 20 per cent grape sugar solution, and red wine; Leube's,