| Description | This is a Higginson-type enema. It is composed of black-painted red India rubber, now stiff and cracked due to wear and tear, and a vulcanite pipe on one end. At the other end, another tube would have ended with a shield that would have been immersed in water. It features a gum vagina pipe, made of red India rubber with a blunt closed tip coated in black and fenestration.
The bulb-shaped pump would then have been squeezed to flow the water and make the enema work. On the surface of the pump, there is a maker's stamp on one side "London" and on the other "Guaranteed No. 77 English Make".
This type of enema was used for colonic irrigation and cleansing the bowel. It was often employed to treat constipation or to prepare patients for medical procedures that required a clear bowel. Designed by English doctor Alfred Higginson in the mid-19th century, this enema was used by placing the metal-tipped end in a bowl of liquid, which was then pumped through the nozzle. |