124 



NATURE 



[April 6, 191 6 



a privileged communication. We do not sympa- 

 thise with those who regard it as an infringement 

 of liberty to require, as a matter of course, a 

 medical certificate on both sides before marriage, 

 for this is surely a social as well as a personal 

 matter, and we have a well-grounded confidence 

 in the general wisdom of the medical profession — 

 a wisdom which would be more generously dis- 

 played if it w^ere more frankly and courteously 

 appealed to. (2) The commissioners are strongly 

 convinced that it is time to let in more daylight. 

 Medical students should have more adequate in- 

 struction in regard to these scourges of the race ; 

 the public should be authoritatively informed 

 (e.^., by literature which has received the 

 imprimatur of the National Council for Com- 

 bating Venereal Diseases) as to the biological gist 

 of the matter (of which most know nothing), and 

 as to parasitological commonplaces, e.g. regarding 

 exchange of pipes or tooth-brushes ; students in 

 training colleges should l^e carefully prepared so 

 that they may be able to guide and advise senior 

 pupils ; the practice, followed by some head- 

 teachers, of warning and encouraging pupils 

 before they leave school should be general ; in- 

 struction should also be given in evening continua- 

 tion schools (we doubt the wisdom of including 

 factories and workshops) ; use should be made of 

 those voluntary associations that show a suffi- 

 ciently high standard of efficiency and tact ; and, 

 last but not least, "the guidance of medical 

 practitioners should be secured." 



All this is, in its general trend at least, wise 

 counsel, which should be made the basis of earnest 

 experiment towards lessening one of the disgraces 

 of our civilisation. We would add, however, a 

 plea that the instruction, for lack of which many 

 perish miserably, should not be restricted to the 

 pathological and prudential aspects, but should 

 be broadened out into positive eugenic education, 

 with a frank recognition, for instance, that whole- 

 some, full-blooded, high-minded love, in spite of 

 the awfulness of its corruptio optimi pessima, is 

 the finest thing in human life. 



In connection with this terrible subject there 

 is a brilliant record of scientific achievement. 

 Thus we may ren. ember Neisser's discovery of 

 the micro-organism (Gonococcus) that causes 

 gonorrhoea ; the pioneer experiments of Metchni- 

 koff and Roux ; Schaudinn's discovery of the 

 micro-organism {Spirochaeta pallida) that causes 

 syphilis; Xoguchi's observation of the occurrence 

 of the spirochaete in the brains of persons dying 

 of general paralysis and locomotor ataxy ; 

 Wassermann's suggestion of a valuable diag- 

 nostic bio-chemical test; Ehrlich's working out 

 of the salvarsan cure, for which there are now 

 various substitutes available. Such records make 

 us proud of mankind, but the reason for it all 

 fills us with shame. The commissioners are wise 

 enough to discern that men become victims of 

 vicious circles. Overcrowded and insanitary 

 dwellings indirectly contribute to the spread of 

 the diseases in question; occupational depression 

 leads to alcoholism, and the "communication of 



NO. 2423, VOL. 97] 



disease is frequently due to indulgence in intoxi- 

 cants " ; and so the dismal circles run. 



Biologically regarded, the measures proposed 

 by the commissioners must be approved of with- 

 out hesitation. Two invisible parasites cause 

 widespread human misery ; science has mastered 

 these parasites ; and, if men will, the misery may 

 in greater part, or altogether, cease. But to 

 consider man from the biological point of view 

 alone is a fallacious and, indeed, impossible ab- 

 straction. For he is a rational, social person,, 

 a member of a realm of ends as well as of the 

 class of mammals. Thus the question arises — 

 and who is wise enough to answer it? — whether 

 our scientific saving of the sinner from the punish- 

 ment of his sins — always a dangerous thing ta 

 do— will be justified in the long run by a finer 

 race. In actual fact, however, there is" no alter- 

 native, for social instinct, with the obsolescence 

 of patriarchal ways of looking at things, is now 

 strong enough to secure that women and children 

 be shielded, so far as available science makes it 

 possible, from the effects of masculine selfishness. 



The terms of the commissioners' reference 

 precluded consideration of the moral aspects of 

 the questions with which they had to deal, but 

 there is no dubiety as to the firm ethical under- 

 tone of the report. "We are deeply sensible of 

 the need and importance of the appeals to con- 

 science and honour which are made by the re-" 

 ligious bodies and by associations formed for this 

 purpose. We believe that these appeals will 

 gain force if the terrible effects of venereal 

 disease upon innocent children and other persons 

 who have no vicious tendencies are more fully 

 realised." 



We have exceeded the space editorially allotted 

 to us, but we plead that this is one of the most 

 important bio-sociological documents of recent 

 years, and we wish to quote its well-considered 

 final appeal : — 



The diminution of the best manhood of the nation, 

 due to the losses of the war, must tell heavily upon 

 the birth-rate — already declining — and upon the 

 numbers of efficient workers. The reasons for com- 

 bating, by every possible means, diseases which in 

 normal times operate with disastrous effects alike 

 upon the birth-rate and upon working efficiency are, 

 therefore, far more urgent than ever before. Now 

 and in years to come the question of public health 

 must be a matter of paramount national importance, 

 and no short-sighted parsimony should be permitted 

 to stand in the way of all means that science can 

 suggest and organisation can supply for guarding the 

 present and future generations upon which the restora- 

 tion of national prosperity must depend. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN: 



IN early days almost nothing was accurately 

 known of the manufacture of porcelain. , 

 Euroj>ean potters had never made ware with such 

 admirable qualities as that which was brought by . 

 the traders from China, and their attempts to ; 

 imitate Chinese porcelain were not very success- ■ 

 ful. The first synthetical experiments were based • 

 on the hypothesis that Chinese p>orcelain was a 



