In this age of specialization most patients with diseases of the hind gut and anus are still managed by general physicians or surgeons. The speciality of coloproctology has grown from the art of 'anology', a study of conditions limited to that distance from the anal verge that could be inspected easily by torch- or candlelight or with the aid of a simple speculum. Two centuries ago many proctological ills were often treated by itinerant quacks, partly because the physician considered himself rather too grand to meddle around the anus and the medical profession in general tended to look down...