The subject of atony of the bladder, its causation and symptoms, has demanded more than an ordinary amount of discussion in recent years, and this fact alone would suggest the existence of some doubtful and unsettled question that has aroused special interest.
The kindred subject of contracture of the neck of the bladder is brought equally to mind because, on the one hand, many cases of atony are dependent on mechanical obstruction of the bladder outlet (under which category "contracture" properly belongs), while, on the other hand, in some cases of bladder retention which have been attributed to a mechanical cause, such cause has been disputed and the explanation thereof ascribed to more vague and indefinite conditions, difficult to explain but certainly not mechanical.
It is not within the scope of this communication to take issue here with those who have investigated and described at length the various etiologic factors