GONORRIICEA. 



into contafl witli any of thofe furfaec«, which are fufcep- 

 tible of contaiiiinatio;i by it, and which, wc heHeve, muft 

 ■be fuch as are naturally dellined to focn-te mucus. On the 

 foregoiiip; account, the difordcr is almoft always caught, or 

 commuiucated, in the venereal conncdtion, when fomc of the 

 difchnrge of the difcafed perfon is applied to the parts, 

 which are liable to be affected in the Iiealthy one. How- 

 ever, a gonorrluTa may be produced in any innnner, which 

 l>riitgs the infectious difcharge into contaft with the mouth 

 of the urethra, the hirfices of the labia, &c. In the arti- 

 cle Or'liTHAi..\rv, we (liall liave occafion to notice a parti- 

 cular inflammation of the eyes, attended with a copious 

 difcharge of matter from beneath the eye-lids, wliich is rc- 

 prefented, by furgieal writers, as originating from the inad- 

 vertent application of gonorrhocal matter to the eye -lids, 

 the inner furfaces of which are well known to be mucous 

 ones. 



The Hunterian doftrines go fo far as to affert, on the 

 nutliority of experiments, that the poifon of the lues «e- 

 nerca, and that of gonorrhoea, are in faft the fame, though 

 ufually productive of oppohte cfFctts, by reafon of tfie 

 jiarts affcifted in a chancre, and thofe concerned in gonor- 

 hoca having quite different ftructures. Thcfe tilings, if 

 true, tend to prove, that the matter of a clap may, under 

 certain circumltanres, impart tlic venereal difeafe to the 

 conilitution. However, it fliould be underllood, that the 

 flatement jufl nmv made can only refer to the gonorrhoea 

 virulenta ; for it is certain, that a fimple difcharge from 

 the urethra, and a fcalding fenfation in making water, 

 which would conflitute a gonorrhoea, may be the confe- 

 quence of any thing which produces m.cre irritation in the 

 palTage without the poflibility of the venereal or common 

 gonorrhocal virus being at all concerned. Thus, a man 

 may linve a flricture, and begin the emplo)Tncnt of bougies 

 for its cure ; iheir irritation may bring on a forenefs in the 

 urethra, and excite a difcharge. Here we have an in- 

 flance of the complaint arihng from the operation of no 

 virus whatever ; but altogether from the imequivocal, me- 

 chanical, irritation of the bougies. Doubtlefs, alio, there 

 are fometimes difcharges both from the male and female 

 parts of generation, which, when applied to other perfons, 

 are capable of bringing on certain kinds of gonorrlicea by 

 the entire cffeft of their irritation. So were a man, with a 

 gonorrhoea, excited by the irritation of bougies to have 

 conneftion with a v.-oman, there is no doubt tiiat the lat- 

 ter would be very likely to become troubled v.-ith a dif- 

 charge and fcalding in making v.-ater, merely in confe- 

 quence of the application of fome of the matter from the 

 male urethra to the furfaces of the labitE, nymphre. Sec. 



The arguments whicii h.ave been adduced to fliev.- that 

 the poifon of one form of gonorrhoea, and that of the ve- 

 nereal difeafe are the fame, will more properlv come under 

 conllderairon hereafter. In the meanwhile, it is our part 

 to enter a little more particularly into the hiltory of 

 gonorrhoea. 



The etymological meaning of gonorrhiz.i is a running of 

 the femcn, the term being derived from ■; .ir, fignifying the 

 feminal fiiiid, 7mA ^'x, to Jlo'W. The ancients are faid to have 

 entertained the very erroneous notion that the difeafe con- 

 fiited of an oozing of the femen in a morbid and altered 

 (late. As it is long fince fo abfurd a f'.ippofition has had 

 any partifans, a refutation becomes fuperfluous, and every 

 one now knows, that in the prefent, as in r.iar.y otlier cx- 

 rmples, truth and etym.ology are not coupled together. Dr. 

 Swediaur, who has found fault with the term ^onorrhma, as 

 conveying an untrue idea, has not been happy iu a fubllitute. 



He remarks, that if a Greek name is to be retained, he 

 would call the complaint Llnmorrha/ia, from .z><i'.:,, mucui^ 

 and jSi, lofoiu. Now this lall cxpreflion i-. obicdtionablc, on 

 the identical principle which makes Dr. Swcdiaux wi(h for 

 the relinquilhmcnt of gonorrhoea ; for it is generally thought 

 by all the moll cmineiit modern furgcons, that the difcharge 

 is pus, and not mucus. Defidcs, we do not fee mucli utilitv 

 in abandoni!ig the ancient appellatio i. The knowledge o'f 

 fnrgery is no\r fo highly cultivated, that there is not tin- 

 lealt danger of any man imbibir.g ati abfurd opinion rcfp-ftii,;; 

 this common complaint, from the etymological import of 

 its name. Every juvenile apprentice kno«o that a clap is a 

 running of matter from the urethra. Few common 

 practitioners trouble thr mfelvcs about Greek derivation'.; 

 and where is the objeft of changing the name of one difeaf.-, 

 while many hundred other furgicalu-rms ftand in equal, at;d 

 often greater, need of alteration ? 



The firft perceptible fymptom of a gonorrhoea ii gencrallv 

 a kind of itching about the orifice of the urethra, attended 

 with a flight fuelling of its edges, and fometimes extending 

 over the whole of the glans peni^. Very (hortly afterwards 

 the running commences, and the itching fenfation changes 

 into pain, which is fevcrely felt at the time of making water. 

 In fome few inllances, no confiderable pain is experienced, 

 till a long while after the accefs of the difcharge and other 

 fymptoms. It is faid that there are certain cafes which arc 

 attended with no pain whatfocver, while other indanccs 

 occur, in which patients fuffcr fevercly, even before the 

 difcharge makes its appearance. 



When the inflammatory iVmptoms have come on, the- 

 penis feems fwoUen, and as if it were in a llateof half-ercdion. 

 The glans appears red, fmooth, and enlarged, with a kind of 

 tranfparency about it. Sometimes it is affected with a 

 (light excoriation, which makes it exceedingly tender, and is 

 the fource of fome trivial quantity of matter. The canal of 

 the urethra becomes narrower than natural, if we mav fonn 

 a judgment from the diminution which takes place in the 

 ilream of urine. Indeed, very frequently, this fluid can 

 only be difcharged in a broken fcattered current, or by drops.. 

 We have often fecn fevere retentions of urine attendant on, 

 the inflammatory fiage of a gonorrhoea. 



Small tumours may frequently be noticed along the inferior 

 furface of the penis, in the courfe of the urethra. Thcfe 

 fwellings have been coniidered as the mucous glaud of that 

 canal in a fwollen flatc. Sometimes they acquire a very 

 large fize, and itltimatcly Uippurate and form abfcefic.s 

 which, in fome inflances, biirll externally, while, in others, 

 they break into the urethra itfclf. In the latter event, the 

 fwelling all on a fuddcn fubfides, as foon as the contained 

 matter has efcaped. Sometimes, after a certain interval, 

 the tumour is fecn to re-appear, v.hich circumftancc is faid to 

 be owing to a premature clofure of the opening. .Ablecffes 

 of the preceding kind arc often met with in the fltuation of 

 Cowper's glands. Here they a'fo fometimes burll out- 

 wardly, fometimes inwardly, fometimes in both ways in the 

 fame patient. In this lafl cafe a new paffagc is made for the 

 urine, termed a tiitnla in perinxo. Sec Fj^Tl.:r.\. 



A painful fenfation is frequently felt by the patient along- 

 the lower furface of the penis, extending as f.ir as the anuv 

 and depending on the inflamed ilate of the urethra In m.olV 

 cafes the ereSions arc frequent, and gener.tlly produiilivT of 

 infinite pain, particularly v.lien a forenefs cxifls along the 

 track of the urctlira towards the anns, or when the com*. 

 plaint is comphcated with chordrc. St-c CirouDEE. 



The vilcid tranfparcnt fluid which is naturally fecreted by 

 thc glands of the urethra changes into a whinih aqueous 



