Syphilis and marriage / by Alfred Fournier ; translated by Alfred Lingard.

  • Jean Alfred Fournier
Date:
1881
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Syphilis and marriage / by Alfred Fournier ; translated by Alfred Lingard. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    men to prevent, thanks to your art, to your experience, to your authority. It is these situations that should occur to you as soon as a syphilitic patient comes to you to talk about marriage, it is these that must be present in your mind at that moment when, in one sense or other, you deliver your reply; or, to put it more truly, you pronounce your decree. Judge then, by these few words, the importance of the rôle you have to play in your position as arbitra- tors ; and again I would insist upon the responsibility you incur in the events which may follow; judge what service you are called upon to render to your client in either the one or the other case, whether it be that you permit the marriage, or, whether, on the other hand, you throw light upon the possible consequences of his condition (consequences which perhaps he ignores or does not fully appreciate), and thus preserve him from the dreadful gulf into which he was about to plunge. And observe also, from the moment you pronounce your sentence, it is not the interests of your patient alone which you hold in your hands,—your authority extends itself far beyond him. For beyond the patient is the health and happiness of a young girl, of possible children, the interests of the family and of society, whose only protection lies in your decision. See then the importance of the position of the physician, and the complexity and extent of the interests involved in his arbitration.
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