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BACTERIOLOGY. 
Syphilis. 
This disease is caused by the Treponema pallidum 
belonging to the class of protozoa and characterized by 
having no undulating membrane and having a flagel¬ 
lum at each end. It is a very delicate spiral having 
from 3 to 12 turns. It is actively motile. 
The organism was discovered by two German in¬ 
vestigators, Shaudium and Hoffman in 1905, and in 
1912 Dr. Noguchi at the Rockefeller Institute was 
successful in cultivating them. 
The infection takes place through small injuries 
or cracks in the skin or mucous membranes, and is 
spread, in the vast majority of cases, through sexual 
intercourse. On this account, syphilis has been termed 
a venereal disease. It is quite possible to become in¬ 
fected in other ways. People with syphilitic sores in 
the mouth may transmit the infection to others by kiss¬ 
ing or from drinking-glasses or eating-utensils that 
they have used. Wet-nurses may become infected by 
nursing a child that is infected. Physicians may be¬ 
come infected in the performance of professional 
duties, as in the examining of patients and in the at¬ 
tendance of women in confinement. Nurses can be in¬ 
fected from the sores of patients under their care. 
This kind of infection is, fortunately, not very com¬ 
mon, and may be prevented entirely by careful disin¬ 
fection of the hands after attending such cases, or by 
the use of rubber gloves. Children may be infected in 
the uterus or, during labor from sores in the vagina. 
