394 MEDICAL SECTION 



laboratories employed for this purpose would not only 

 thereby perform an important service to public health 

 but prove of great economic value by diminishing 

 greatly the infantile mortality, and the prevention of 

 incurable diseases occurring at all ages. Finally, it 

 is desirable, as suggested by Sir Malcolm Morris, 

 that a Royal Commission be appointed to inquire into 

 the best means to be adopted for the prevention of 

 the spread of syphilis and other venereal diseases. 



DISCUSSION. 



A MEMBER OF THE CONFERENCE remarked that they 

 required in these things definite information and facts. 

 They must not allow themselves to be actuated by sym- 

 pathies which had been touched by cases with which they 

 might have come in contact in the course of their work. 

 What he personally wished to get at was how far these 

 diseases were a direct cause of infantile mortality in pro- 

 portion to many common diseases with which they had to 

 deal. If he could get some definite information on that 

 point he would be very glad to have it. 



Dr. A. E. NAISH (Sheffield) said it had been a pleasure 

 to listen to Dr. Mott's interesting and important address on 

 this subject, and he was sure they would all agree with the 

 author in what he said with respect to Government measures 

 for the prevention of this disease. But there was one smal" 

 point in connection with the frequency of congenital syphilis 

 to which he must take exception. If syphilis were an 

 important cause of -infantile mortality the probability was 

 that that mortality occurred very largely in the first month 

 of life. Those cases came very largely under notice of the 

 physicians who ran infant consultations. There had been 

 a question as to how far congenital syphilitic infants showed 

 distinct signs of syphilis, or whether the mere fact of 

 wasting was a sign of congenital syphilis. If a large 

 number died during the first month of life then probably 

 there would be a comparatively large number of infants 

 surviving over the first month of life who would be wasting 

 children who would be children who did not put on weight 

 according to the normal standard, or who remained 

 stationary over long periods. So it was of importance to 

 test such cases in order to ascertain whether syphilis was 

 largely responsible for the marasmus or wasting which 

 occurred in children during the first year of life. For some 



