LUES VENEREA. 



no exceptions. We have heard it confe/Ted by a furgcon, 

 vlio has feen as much of the venereal dilpafe ab any man, 

 that fypliihtic fores, inftead of fpreaJing to an iinHmifd 

 extent, will i'ometimes heal up without a;i\ mercury beinp 

 given, the difoafc afterwards breaking out, however, in another 

 form. B^fides, who C'li doubt that guaiacum, ;ind tome 

 other remedies, have heakd venereal f.'res, thout;h they 

 mav not have extirpated the difeafe in Inch manner as to 

 hinder the accefs of future mifchief? We (h;'Uprefently find, 

 on the authority of Mr. Pearfon, that even bark, and other ar- 

 ticles, will make primary venereal complaints give v.ay, 

 without the afliilanee of mercury. Mr. Clutterbuck, in a 

 letter addreffed to Dr. Adams, makc^ the following re- 

 marks : " I have feen cafes whicli induce me "o believe that 

 the venereal difeafe, in fome of its ftaj^es, and in certain 

 circumllances, may get well without mercury, or any other 

 remedy. But this is contrary to the dodriiie of Mr. 

 Hunter, who fuppofed that venereal aftions go on increafing, 

 without any tendency to wear theinf-lves out. 



" That ues venerea is much iiodiiied by climate and other 

 circumllances, is generally allowed ; tliat it has been cured 

 by other means than mercury, we have alfo very fufEcient 

 evide-nce in the older writers on the fubjecl : not to mention 

 the late fuccefsful trials with acids and other fubitances." 

 See Remarks on f.-me of the Opinions of John Hunter^ 

 &c. by Henry Clutterbuck, p. 27. 



Dr. Adams informs us, that according to the laws of 

 morbid poifons, when a chancre has exided and been cured, 

 a perpetual memorial of the event muft be left, becaufe the 

 fore heals without granulations. In prafticc, we have fo 

 frequently feen this obfervation contradidied, that we are 

 fomewhat furprized at its ever having been advanced. Chan- 

 cres are not only often filled up by granulatinns before be- 

 coming covered with (Icin ; but there is aftually a redun- 

 dance of luch new fubftance, and we are obliged to reprefs 

 it with lunar cauftic. Mr. Clutterbuck has remarked, in his 

 letter to Dr. Adams, " With rcfped to what you fuppofe a 

 law of m :rbid poifons, that lofs of fubftance in their primary 

 ulcers is never fupplied, but that fl<inning takes place imme- 

 diately, as foon as the poifon ceafes to aci, 'Ahlit, in the fe- 

 condary ulcers of thcfe difeafes grar.u'aticns as conftantly 

 take place and fupply the loft f.bftancc ; I fufpeft the dif- 

 ference to be r;jther owing to the nature of the afFcCled 

 parts, according to the greater or Icfs readinefs with which 

 they take on nnd complete the healing procefs. Thus, for 

 iuflauce, in .he confluent fijiail-pox, the face alone fuffers 

 materially from pitting, though the ll<in on o^ber parts has 

 been equally crowded with puftules, &c The traces of 

 previous chancre are much more vifibie on the glans than on 

 the prepuce.'' P. 71. 



Thefe and other reflections, ftated in the article Gonor- 

 RHCE.\, make us difbelieve in the identity of the virus of this 

 malady and lues venerea, as well as the poffibihty of fecondary 

 venereal fvmptoms ever in reality being the conlequence of 

 any kind of gonorrhcca. 



The Huntcnan doctrines refpefting lues venerea produced 

 a fudden and conliuera' le revolution in the theories concern- 

 ing the nature and treatment of this diftemper ; and, as they 

 are ftiU highly luterc'.ing, and continue to have vail in- 

 fluence over modern pr.iCtice, we feel it our duty to enter a 

 Lttle further into the explanation of them. 



The effeifs produced by the venereal poifon appeared to 

 Mr. Hunter to arife from its peculiar or fpecific irritation, 

 joined with the aptnefs of the living principle to be irritated 

 by fuch a cauie, and the part fo irritated acting accordingly. 

 He therefore confidered it as a poifon, which, by irritating 



the living parts in a manner pecnhar to itfelf, produced an 

 inflammation pecuhar to that irritation, and occafioned the 

 formation of a fpecific kind of maner, 'hat could alone arife 

 from that particular fort of infl?,nim< -i-jn. P. 10. 



The following feems to us a very fair fummary of the 

 prmcipal opinions promulgated by this philofophical and ori- 

 gu;A charafter, on the fubir-ft of hies venerea. 



1. That the venereal poifon, being taken into the fyflem, 

 becomes univcrfally diffufcd, and con'arriinates fuch pans 95 

 arc fiiiceptible of the venereal adion ; nnd tha' ii is foon 

 afterwards expelled the fyftem, along with fon.e of ihe ex- 

 cretions. 



2. That the parts contamina'cd do not immediately go 

 into venereal aclion ; but that they acquire a new ftatc, or 

 condition, which is termed a d'ljpofuiijn to take on the vene- 

 real aftion. 



3. That the number of parts contamirated does not de- 

 pend on the quantity orftrength of -he viru abforbed. 



4. That the difpojilion once formed in a part, necefTarily 

 goes on to aftion at fome future period. 



5. That mercury can cure the venereal aaion ; but cannot 

 remove the difpofttion whieh has been previoufly formed, and 

 has not yet come into aftion. 



6. That although mercury does not deftroy the difpo. 

 fition already formed, yet that it prevents it from form- 

 ing- 



7. That a'lhou^h the difpofition continues, it does not go 

 into aftion during the ufe of mercury. 



8. That the aftion, Iiaving once taken place, goes on in- 

 creafing, without wea ing itielf out. 



9. That parts once cured never become contaminated 

 again from the fame ftock of infeiflion. 



10. That the matter of the fecondary ulcer is not in- 

 feftious. 



H. That the venereal aftion is as foon deftroyed in a 

 large chancre as in a fmall one, the mercury aAing equally 

 on every part of the lore. 



We (hall now endeavour to defcribe the different forms 

 in which fyphilis prefents itfelf to our notice ; we fhall thea 

 introduce fome general obfervations on the treatment of the 

 dileafe ; and afterwards conclude with fuch remarks as feem- 

 necefTary 'o convey the requifite information refpe6king the- 

 manage'Tient of each particular cafe. 



Of Chancres — Whatever may be the efFeft arifing from 

 the application of venereal matter to a fecreting furface un- 

 covered with cuticle, whether gonorrhcca, as Mr. Hunter 

 reprefents, or a fyphilitic lore, as Mr. B. Bell has a(rerted,it 

 is admitted by all parties, that when the venereal virus is 

 applied to any part of the common Ikin, a peculiar fore, 

 called a chancre, is apt to be occafioned. This, which is 

 the primary venereal ulcer, is generally caught on the parts 

 of generation, 111 conlequence of a connection between the 

 fexes ; but any part of the body may be affefted by the 

 apphcation of venereal matter, efpecially if the cuticle i» 

 thni. In men, chancres ufu.dly occur upon the franum, 

 glans penis, prepuce, or upon the common il<in of the body 

 of the penis, the moft frequent fituation being the fra»num, 

 or corona glandis. The reafon why chancres commonly 

 affeft thefe parts depends upon the manner in which fuct 

 fo.-es are caught, and not upon any greater fpecific ten- 

 dency in the parts to catch 'the dileale, than exifts m other 

 fituations. They affedl the fnenura thus frequently, becaufe 

 that I; ;rt is irregular, and the inteftious matter is apt to lie 

 undi urbed in the folds, by which means it has time to 

 irri'die and inltame the place where it lodges, and to pro- 

 duce there the fuppurative and ulcerative inflammation. On 



8 t}«. 



