46 BACTERIOLOGY. 



sexual contact. In the male the infection starts, 

 after an incubation period of five to seven days, with 

 a discharge of pus from the urethra. The acute 

 stage lasts usually from three to six weeks, and then 

 recedes either entirely or leaves a catarrhal inflam- 

 mation which may last and be infectious for an in- 

 definite period. In approximately half of the cases, 

 however, the infection extends back to involve the 

 bladder, prostate gland, or seminal vesicles. When 

 this happens the gonococci become buried in the tis- 

 sues and frequently remain dormant for years, only 

 to light up again when conditions favor it. Infection 

 of these organs is most difficult to- eradicate, and a 

 person so infected may be able to- transmit the disease 

 to others over long periods of time. It is a frequent 

 cause of sterility in the male. 



In the female the infection likewise starts in the 

 urethra, but very soon spreads to- the glands of Bar- 

 tholin situated beneath the floor of the vagina. 

 Later it may extend to the cervix of the uterus, 

 thence to the mucous lining, to involve finally the 

 Fallopian tubes. It has been recognized for years 

 that gonorrhea! infections are responsible for the 

 great majority of inflammations of the uterus and 

 Fallopian tubes that require surgical intervention. The 

 disease is harder to combat in the female than in the 

 male, partly because the acute symptoms are not so 

 marked, and so the nature of the infection may escape 

 detection, and partly because the anatomy of the 

 organs infected is such that it is next to* impossible to 



