VENEREAL VIRUS. 



all thefe ulcers, excepting the venereal, were well known to 

 Celfus, who defcribes with much accuracy in his chapter 

 ik obfcenarum partium -vitus all thofe ulcers on the genitals 

 which are mentioned by writers lince the appearance of 

 fyphilis as varieties of or anomalies in the venereal charac- 

 ttr. Yet it is hardly credible, that almoft to this day 

 there are writers who will conceive that local difeafes, dif- 

 ferent in charafter in all their ftages, in their mode of fpread- 

 ing and healing, and requiring different modes of treatment, 

 muil ftill be the fame ; who, while they admit that the ve- 

 nereal difeafe is of comparatively recent origin, will ftill 

 confound it with appearances moft accurately defcribed more 

 than twelve centuries paft. 



Mr. Hunter, with that accuracy which diftinguifhes all 

 his remarks, began by fixing the charafter of the difeafe, 

 and even ihewing, that from the laws of the economy, as 

 afcertained in all other local difeafes, fuch muft be the cha- 

 raAer of an ulcer arifmg from fome external caufe, and for 

 the cure of which animal economy had made no provifion. 



Firft : In every local irritatioji, he fhewed that a fecretion 

 of fome fluid would take place, by which the irritating fub- 

 jeft might be removed. The venereal matter, therefore, 

 irritating a folid part, induces ulceration, that the part may 

 rid itfelf of this irritating caufe. But from the nature 

 of a morbid poifon, the effeft of that irritation is to pro- 

 dace a local aftion, by which a fubftance is fecreted firailar 

 to that which induced the irritation. In fome cafes, as in 

 fmall-pox, as foon as this effed is produced it ceafes, and 

 the parts heal as readily as after any other lofs of fubftance ; 

 but fuch is not the cafe with an ulcer from venereal poifon. 

 When this is once fet up, its aftion continues until fome 

 fubftance induces a more powerful irritation, and thus fuper- 

 fedes the venereal. 



Secondly : When the curative procefs of a fore from any 

 caufe is interrupted, it muft fpread, or a new aftion muft be 

 fet up. This new aftion, in common ulcers, is the formation 

 of thick, or, as they are ufually called, callous edges, after 

 which the ulcer remains ftationary. This was well re- 

 marked by Celfus, who gives this procefs the name of 

 vetujlai, defcribing the thickened lips, and remarking, that 

 whilft they continue, no appUcations to the ulcer are of 

 any ufe. 



Thirdly : The peculiarity which diftinguiflies the venereal 

 ulcer from all others is, that the incapacity in the part to 

 alter the difeafcd aftion, produces the fame effeft as in 

 parts where there is any other imjjcdiment to healing ; 

 namely, the thickened edge and bafe. But though the 

 attempt at healing is given up, ftill the irritation continues 

 from the conftant prefence of the virus, and confequently the 

 ulceration alfo, in order to rid the part of the caufe of fuch 

 irritation. Hence we have what is not to be met with m 

 any other ulcer, namely, a continued ulceration, attended 

 with or accompanied by a hard edge and bafe. This is 

 the only true primary venereal ulcer, and the only ulcer 

 or vi/ium not defcribed by Celfus in the chapter before 

 alluded to. 



The next queftion was, in what manner a difeafe incur- 

 able of itfelf was always relieved by mercury. For this a 

 thoufand whimfical caufes were affigned, the moft common 

 of which was, that mercury -was its antidote. This no one 

 could doubt, but did fuch an expreffion do more than aflign 

 a word where we were looking for an aftion ? At length 

 Mr. Hunter ftiewed, that this alfo was perfeftly confiftent 

 with what had been before obferved ; namely, if the venereal 

 ulcer is the effeft of an aftion arifmg from the irritation 

 of a fpeciiic fubftance, the cure muft be effefted by the 

 ufe of another fubftance, the effeft of whofe irritation 



would be greater than the irritation excited by venereal 

 matter ; and the manner in which the difeafe always yields 

 to the remedy, confirms the doftrine. For no quantity 

 of this antidote, as it is called, will produce any effeft on 

 a venereal idcer, unlefs an excitement is induced greater 

 than the venereal : that is, if the chancre is recent, a very 

 flight mercurial irritation will be fulBcient to alter its aftion ; 

 if more inveterate, the mercurial irritation muft be excited 

 proportionally higher, and be longer continued. 



It may at firft feem that we have gained little, inafmuch 

 as we have now a more fevere difeafe than before. But it 

 will readily occur, that the parts themfelves are capable of 

 forming venereal matter, which is the caufe of the firft irri- 

 tation, and which will continue till the aftion excited by that 

 irritation is fuperfeded. But the parts are not capable of 

 forming mercury, by which the fecond irritation is induced ; 

 we might therefore expeft, as aftually happens, that when 

 the ufe of mercury is difcontinued, the aftion excited by it 

 would gradually ceafe alfo, and the parts be reftored to 

 their original or healthy aftion. 



But other difficulties remained. After the ulceration of the 

 genitals was perfeftly healed, it fometimes happened, at un- 

 certain periods, that the throat, the llcin, or the bones, or 

 all of them, would fhew difeafed aftions, whicli, though very 

 different from thofe on the genitals, were equally incurable 

 without the remedy ; and which, from their uniformity in fo 

 many fubjefts, whether durhig the prunary fymptoras, or 

 after they were healed, evidently arofe from the fame caufe. 

 The ignorance of former praftitioners induced them to 

 fufpeft that thefe fymptoms of confirmed pox, as they were 

 called, arole from an infufBcient ufe of the remedy when 

 the chancre was healed. Yet it was impoffible they fhould 

 be ignorant, that in many inilances in which but compara- 

 tively httle mercury had been ufed, none of thefe fymp- 

 toms on diftant parts of the body had occurred ; and in 

 others in which the mercury had been ufed to a very 

 great excefs, the patient had been a fecond or a third time 

 affefted, though always in different parts, and with local 

 complaints, different from primary ulcers, yet arifing from 

 a fimilar caufe. Befides, if the difeafe occurred from the 

 want of a fuf&cient ufe of mercury, how did it happen tliat 

 the parts firft affefted fliould remain found, and parts not 

 previoufly fhewing any difeafed aftion, fhould now beconje 

 in a ftate of open ulceration ? 



To account for this, Mr. Hunter fhewed, that though it 

 is now well afcertained, that mercury will with certainty 

 cure every form of the venereal difeafe which we can 

 deleft ; it does not follow that it will cure it before fuch 

 an aftion has commenced, as evinces itfelf by fome iteration 

 in the texture of the part ; in other words, that it wiU fuper- 

 fede the venereal aftion by its higher irritation ; but in order 

 to do this, the venereal aftion muft have commenced. But 

 it is urged, that doubtlefs the venereal aftion has com- 

 menced before we can trace it by our fenfes, and that there- 

 fore mercury ought in this ftate to fuperfede it, and to 

 prevent its arriving at open ulceration. In anfwer to that, 

 Mr. Hunter produces his fafts, and fhews that when the 

 aftion has appeared, it invariably yields to mercury, and 

 never appears again from the fame fource of infeftion in the 

 fame order of parts. He taught us alfo what is now 

 univerfally admitted, that in the fliin and throat it is always 

 curable by a much {lighter courfe of mercury, than was 

 neceffary for curing the primary chancre. Confequently, if 

 mercury could prevent the venereal aftion in thefe fecondary 

 parts, the firft courfe would prove fufficient for that purpofe. 

 But the concurrent teftimony of all the beft writers goes to 

 prove, that none of them knew when to expetS nor how to 

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