Note 106 — Chapter XXIII · Reflex Neuroses and the Prepuce.

I have seen precisely similar conditions resulting from a sphincterismus being relieved by anal dilatation. I had one such case who had fallen into the hands of a quack, who made him believe that he was being affected with incipient softening of the brain; systematic dilatation or a rupture of the sphincter à la Van Buren is the appropriate remedy.