GONORRHCEA. 



liofometimes end in abfcefTea and fores ; but no lues vene- 

 rea follows, nor is mercury reqiiifitc for the cure. 



Another fympathetic afFeftion, fomctinies attendant on a 

 clap, is a fwcUing of the abforbent vefTcls themfclves. In 

 foiiie inftances, tliis fymptom accompanies the fwelling of the 

 glands. It makes its appearance in the form of a hard, 

 pailful cord, which, proceeding from the prepuce, extends 

 along the dorfum of the penis, fometimes as far as the groins, 

 Th;3 effect is not the confcquence of the abforption of mat- 

 ter ; for it is feen attending other irritations in the urethra^ 

 where no fufpicion of any irritating or poifonous matter 

 being taking up by the lymphatics can be entertained by any 

 kind of reafoning whatfoever. The fymptom is fometimes 

 brought on by the employment of bougies, in the treatment 

 of (Iriftures. It was for a long while fuppofed, thit the 

 matter which is difcharged from the urethra, in cafes of 

 gonorrhoea, was furnifhed from ulcers in this canal ; but 

 obfervation at length detefted, that the opinion was deltitute 

 of all foundation. Dr. William Hunter is reputed to have 

 been the iirft who afferted, that in gonorrhc:a no ulcers ex- 

 iiled in the urethra, and he is faid to have begun to incidcate 

 the faft in his leftures about tlie year 1 750. This celebrat- 

 ed phyfician had dtriwd Iiis fentiment from fome particular 

 cafe; which he had feen, where a large quantity of pus had 

 been farniL-d upon the furface of the vifcera, without any ul- 

 ceration of thefe parts whatfoever. In 1753, his brother, 

 Mr. John Hunter, had an opportunity of diffefting the bodies 

 of two malefaSors, who were executed, while it was known 

 that they were affec\ed with a fevcrc gonorrhcea. After a 

 moll: careful examination, no ulceration could be difcovered : 

 the urethra of each was merely found to be rather redder 

 than natural, particularly near the glans penis. Mr. Hun- 

 ter afterwards opened the urethra of many patients who had 

 died with gonorrhcea upon them, and he never could fujd 

 any veftiges of ulceration. It conftantly appeared, that the 

 membranous lining of the canal, near the glans penis, was 

 redder than ufual, and that the lacunae were frequently fil'ed 

 »vith pus. Morgagni i.-i faid to have remarked the fame fadt. 

 (De Sedibus et Caufis Morborum. Epift. 44. J 7.) 



^ As an attempt has been made by a late writer. Dr. Swe- 

 tiiaur, to transfer the honoi:r of the difcovery from the Hun- 

 ters to Morgagni, we deem it our duty to obferve, that we 

 cannot difcover any accuracy, or jullicg, in the do£lor's 

 ftatement, lince Morgagni's 'work was not publifhed till 

 1761. 



Although there can now remain no doubt, that in go- 

 norrhsa there are no u'cers efientially, or commonly pre- 

 ■fent in the urethra, to furnifh the matter which is difcharg- 

 ed, yet Mr. Hunter himfelf has explained, , that a fore, 

 occafioned by the bariling of an abfcefs in one of the glands 

 of this paffage, is fometimes produced. This kind of ulce- 

 ration, }.K)v/ever, never takes place till long after the com- 

 mencement of the numing, and.it is quite uf a different na- 

 ture from. fi;ch fores as were fancied to be the caufe of go- 

 norrhxa. 



We fnallnow conuder the identity of the gonorrhoea and 

 venereal poifons. It has been rep;-efented by fome furgical 

 authors, that the efFential difference bet'.veen gonorrhcea and 

 the venereal difeafe depends upon the circvimflance of the 

 firfl complaint being an affeftion of a fccreting fu!-face. 

 Many other writers, and we may add, llie generality of en- 

 lightened praftitioners in this co-untry, contend, that the two 

 djfeafes originate from different poifons, a fentiment which 

 is fupported by the ftriking diffimilarity of t!ie two affec- 

 tions, and the wide difFereace of their modes of cure. 



Such authors, as maintain the. doilrine of the two com- 

 flaiiits being the cosfequence.of different diilina poifons, 



found their arguments \ipori' ?ari6us circumft'ances. Finl, 

 the hiflory of thefe difeafts, and of their progrefs in <iif« 

 ferent coantries. Secondly, the phenomena peculiar to 

 each diforder. Thirdly, the remedies neceffary for tl>e 

 cure. 



It is afferted, that the venereal difeafe apd gonorrhcea did 

 not make their appearance in Europe- at the fame period 4 

 but that the former was many years antecedent to the lat-r 

 ter. The fame thing is ftated to have happened in other 

 parts of the world, wliither Europeans have coiweyed the 

 venereal virus. Foriniiance, the venereal difeafe v\'as known 

 in China almofl immediately after it had made its appearajice 

 in Europe ; yet it is remarked by Aftruc, that at the time 

 when be wrote, gonorrhcea was a malady wliich had only 

 been very recently obferved among the Chinefe. Alfo, in 

 the South-fea iflandi, difcovered in modern times, wliere 

 both the venereal difeafe and gonorrhoea were unknown be- 

 fore the landmg of European navigator?,, but v.-here thefe 

 maladies were afterwards difTufcd,. gonorrlioea- was not ho- 

 ticed tiUfeveral years after fyphilitic diforders had begun, to 

 fhew themfelves. Claps are faid to liave been yet unknown 

 to the natives of the South-fea iflands, at the period when 

 captain Cook was perform.ing his fecond, voyage. (Dun- 

 can's Medical Cafes and Obfervations.) All thefe circum- 

 ftances have been adduced to prove the difference betweea 

 that virus which gives rife to the venereal difeafe, and that 

 from which jfonorrhrra has its origin. 



On the other land, the circumftances attending the com- 

 mencement of the venereal, difeafe in tlitfe remote countries,, 

 led Ml". Hunter to draw, a conclufion diametrically oppofjte 

 to the one deduced by the foregoing clafsof reafoners ; for, 

 he obferves, that it is almofl impoflible for a man to ha-ve a 

 chancre during a voyage of fcveral months, without the 

 whole of the penis being deilroyed, while it is well known, 

 that a gonorrhcea may lafl an iramenfe time, without lofuig 

 the charadler of being virulent. It is related in the accouiit 

 of captain Cook's voyage, tliat the inhabitants of Otaheite, 

 who were infedted with the gonorrhcea, went up the coun- 

 try and got well ; but that when the i.-onfequence of the 

 malady was the venereal difeafe, the latter was incurable. 

 Hence it is inferred, that the complaint whicli the Otahei- 

 teans contratled v>as the gonorrhoea, fiuce chancres and ve- 

 nereal affedlions would never have yielded to the iim.ple mean*, 

 which were adopted. Befidcs, if the diforder had confided 

 of chancres, and the natives of Otaheite had been acqurjnt- 

 ed with the mode of curing fuch fores, it is contended, tliat 

 they would likewife have underflood how to cure other ve^^ 

 nereal fymptoms. We find, alfo, fi-om the perufal of cap-. 

 tain Cook's third voyage, that tlie venereal difeafe afterwards, 

 raged in all its forms in the ifland of Otaheite. Now,,fuice 

 there is no document to fhew, that the gonorrhoea v.-as again, 

 introduced into that country, fiibfequeiitly to Cook's fecond. 

 vilit, it is concluded, that every form of the venereal difeafe 

 wliich has been obferved there • has been derived from one 

 fource, which, in all probability, was a gonorrlicea. 



Mr. Hunter mentions a gentleman who had a gonorrhcsa 

 thrice, of which he was cured without mercury. About 

 two months after each infeftion, he had fymptoms of- lues 

 venerea. The firfl were ulcers in the throat ; the fecond- 

 were blotches on the fl;in ; both which forms of the difeafe 

 yielded to mercury. Tiiirdly, two punftures were made oHt 

 the penis, with a lancet dipped in the matter of a gonorrhoea. 

 One of thefe produced, on the part of tlie prepuce v.hcre it 

 was made, a red, thickened fpeck, wliich iiiorcaftd audi 

 difcharged fome matter. This fuppofed chanci-e licaled on- 

 having its furface repeatedly deilroyed by cauftic. TliiJ 

 otbcrpundlure was ntade on the glans, where it was followed 



by 



