656 PLAIN FACTS FOR OLD AND YOUNG 



resulting inflammation is most violent and is almost certaia 

 to destroy the eyesight if the most thoroughgoing measures 

 are not employed with great promptness. 



In women the disease is very likely to extend to the 

 ovaries and Fallopian tubes, causing pelvic abscess and 

 necessitating removal of the affected parts by an abdominal 

 operation. Many thousands of innocent women have under- 

 gone this mutilating operation without knowing the real 

 cause of their suffering. There are laws upon the statute 

 books which recognize the communication of an infectious 

 disease as a crime. Is it not time that such laws should be 

 rigidly enforced? Should not pure and innocent women be 

 protected against the horrible suffering and irreparable in- 

 jury inflicted upon them by husbands who have become in- 

 oculated with a horrible "vice disease" while sowing "wild 

 oats"? 



Gonorrhea is usually contracted by impure sexual con- 

 tact, but the infection may be communicated through the 

 medium of a towel or other objects which have been con- 

 taminated by an infected person. A person suffering from 

 the disease should exercise the greatest care to avoid con- 

 veying the disease to his own eyes or exposing other persons 

 to infection through infection of his hands. So far as pos- 

 sible soiling of the hands by contact with the discharge must 

 be avoided; and while infected, care should be taken to 

 touch no other part of the clothing or any other object that 

 is likely to be afterward touched by the patient or any one 

 else. 



Symptoms. — The first symptoms of the disease are usually 

 noticed two or three days after exposure. The first mani- 

 festations are itching, jingling, or simply slight uneasiness 

 about the meatus, or mouth of the urethra, which, on ex- 

 amination, is found to be red and slightly stuck together by 

 a viscid, colorless secretion. The discharge is at first very 

 slight, but increases rapidly, and soon becomes thick and 

 yellowish. On passing urine, a slight smarting sensation is 

 felt. The disease may remain at this stage any length of 

 time, from half a day to two or three days. Sooner or 

 later, however, the symptoms become much aggravated 



