Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1919-07-19
THE ROMANCE OF MEDICINE

ana EOnOrrnea-tWln SCouTSeS Will
but few, if any. peers from a stand
point of prevalence, or as a genuine
menace to the stamina OF the nation.
The United States Public Health
Service, state and city boards Of
health, closely cooperating. are writ
ing the chapter that most probably
will bear the appropriate caption
Control" BY extending free clinical
so that it will finally be
available for every sufferer: by clos
ing the breeding place of the germs.
the houses of prostitution, and by ed
ucating the public to recognize the
menace that turks in every commun-
ity. no matter how small, the goal
will be crossed.
Most important is the attitude of
the public. When the United States
entered the world war syphilis and
gonorrhea were exactly what false
modesty had made them-"secret
diseases" With this secrecy for pro-
lection they had thrived and gained
IN prevalence until in some commu-
mites Is per cent Of the young men
drafted into the army had a venereal
disease. OF the venereal diseases
treated in the army five out OF every
six of the sufferers brought 1t into the
army from civil life. These men
We're in the early stages and other
wise physically fit. The statistics do
not take into consideration the
Of human wrecks, too far
gone for army physicians to treat. 1t
was the first time the nations lead
ers were faced with the problem,
probably the first time any
one obtained a fair idea Of the gen.
eral prevalence.
1t called for immediate drastic ac-
ton as war measure and since the
ending Of the war has come to be
a most vital RECONSTRUCT
ton work Of peace. Since the begin
ming of the war the viewpoint Of the
public has undergone re-
markable change. Syphilis and 60
are no longer secret diseases
except in remote minds and commu-
mites. The newspapers and maya
zines discuss them quite openly, ed
OIL SSoN2AAh6 IA4S ASooOh ~
their students, ministers are warning
and appealing to their congregations
from the pulpit and the lesson is be-
ing thrown on the screen by motion
pictures throughout the length and
breadth of the land. State and Fed
eral laws have put the two diseases
in the same class with others that
ore biohlv cor0rnnnica hha
The American public is beginning
to look upon syphilis and gonorrhea
as diseases, dangerous ones. and not
as crimes or as a punishment for
sins.
The name syphilis was first ap-
piled to the disease in 1880 following
the publication of a poem by Frac-
aster in which the principal charact
err Syphilis" became infected. The
word. literally translated. means a
lover of swine"
Its generally accepted origin is
Sailors of Columbus, re-
turning to Europe from Haiti in 1893,
carried the disease that was to be-
come one of the great scourges Of
DR.. John H. Stokes, Of
the Mayo clinic. Rochester. Mimi,
says of it: 1T is a master disease. the
peer, and indeed the superior of tu-
berculosis. the great white plague"
in the wide range of it's influence
over the fate of mankind, present
and future. There is not tissue or
a structure of the body which syphi-
lis cannot affect. nor is there an as
pect of the entire science of medicine
in which it will not be encountered.
No lane is so long that it may not
find syphilis at it's turning. The dis
ease has changed the destiny of
upon the earth. If it should
cease at this moment to be transmit
ted, it's effects would not disappear
from the world within two and per-
haps three generations. Few, in
deed, of living human beings can
boast an ancestry free from its re-
mote effects"
Until the latter part Of the nine
teenth century it baffled the most
brilliant medical men Of the world.
Then from 1900 until 1910 one re-
markable discovery trod upon the
heels Of the other until the treat
ments and cures we now have were
perfected. 1t was not until April,
1905. that Schaudinn and Hoffman
identified the germ that caused the
disease. Followed quickly the proof
that it could be transmitted to ami
mails for experimental purposes, and
experimenting six hundred and six
times Enrich perfected the arsenic
compound 500. which changed the
whole outlook upon syphilis as a
problem in public health.
Gonorrhea is much more prevalent
than syphilis. In the Brugsch papy-
rus, attributed to 1850. B. c., refer
ences are made to symptoms and
treatments which would seem to ap-
ply to gonorrhea. 1t was not until
1879, however, that Neisser discov-
cred the true cause of gonorrhea.
Unfortunately the discovery of the
germ was not followed by the tri-
umphs in treatment that were made
possible in syphilis. The fact that
no method has been found Of trans
hitting it to animals for experiment
tai purposes has greatly retarded the
development in treatment.
OF the two diseases gonorrhea
presents a greater problem. Without
any specific, such as 1905" it is OBJ
stinate and slow to respond to treat
ment. 1t is durable. however, and
usually cured. under prolonged skill
full treatment although the Dhysi-