377 
A high infant mortality (25 per cent, of the total deaths in 
St Vincent) and a large number of still-births are observed all over 
the West Indies. These alone are evidence of the prevalence of 
syphilis, though there are ofher causes— illegitimacy, ignorance and 
poverty—which contribute to raise these rates. 
Hereditary syphilis in infants is a matter which presses hardly on 
Government Medical Officers who are required to attend the 
children of labourers free, as they do in many West Indian Islands. 
In the twelve months’ period referred to above, I saw no infants 
suffering from inherited disease out of a population of about 5,000. 
In the whole Colony in the same period there were returned 512 
cases of hereditary syphilis. This is in a higher ratio to the total 
cases of syphilis than in my practice. I attribute this difference to 
my own tendency to class syphilis of children and young persons as 
acquired, only counting syphilis in infants as certainly or probably 
inherited. Comparing the ratios otherwise, I find a striking agree¬ 
ment in the figures relating to syphilis returned by myself and the 
other Medical Officers. 
To recapitulate the proofs of the prevalence of syphilis in 
St. Vincent, we note 
i- 19 per cent, of the admissions to hospital are for syphilis. 
2. 44 per cent, of the inhabitants are attended yearly for syphilis 
by the district Medical Officers. 
3 - In a small hospital in a small colony no less than 27 legs were 
removed on account of syphilis in four years. 
4 - The cases of syphilis form 21 per cent, of the district cases seen 
by one Medical Officer. 
5 - Syphilis is responsible for 14 per cent, of the deaths in the 
Colony. 
I take St. Vincent as a representative Colony in which the disease 
ls well developed, though probably not much more so than in some 
other West Indian Colonies. 
h now we examine the stages of syphilis seen by the medical 
ITlen in St. Vincent, we shall find a preponderance of the tertiary and 
u hat seems to be an inadequate proportion of the primary stage. 
The figures for the same twelve months’ period are as follows:— 
Primary .. 
Secondary 
Tertiary .. 
Hereditary 
35 
373 
1,076 
512 
