The Contagious Diseases Act : a paper read by Francis Cadell, Esq, F.R.C.S.E., lecturer on syphilology, Edinburgh School of Medicine, before the Medico-Chirurgical Society of Edinburgh, January, 1881, on the hygienic and legislative failure of the acts, with the discussion of the Society.
- Cadell, Francis.
- Date:
- [1881]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The Contagious Diseases Act : a paper read by Francis Cadell, Esq, F.R.C.S.E., lecturer on syphilology, Edinburgh School of Medicine, before the Medico-Chirurgical Society of Edinburgh, January, 1881, on the hygienic and legislative failure of the acts, with the discussion of the Society. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.
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![cut that as medical men, in this Society, they liad to deal with a disease, and to consider how they could best mitigate it; with the theological aspects of the question they had nothing here to do. It seemed to him that Dr Cadell expected too much from these Acts. They were certainly not perfect; this he believed to be in great measure due to their restriction to localities. At the same time, we could,even at the 1 est.only look for an approach to perfection in this as in all things human. He believed that the good done to our soldiers ard sailors was gi-eater than Dr Cadell would allow. In his opinion, both gononhcea and syphilis were sufficiently serious diseases to require legislative interference. The effect of these Acts on the civil population in the area around the protected district was, in his opinion, still suh jiidice. ]f clandestine prostitution followed in their wake to the extent described by Dr Cadell, then, from what he had seen of the evils of clandestine prostitution in Edinburgh since he passing ot the recent Municipal Act, he was prepared to recon- sider the whole question. Two courses seem open—either to do away with the Acts, or to extend them to the whole country. To do the first would be foolish ; they had not yet been fairly tried (if a trial in the restricted way can ever be fair.) This country was not prepared to do the second—viz., to extend them over the whole population. In the meantime, while feeling that Dr Cadell had brought foiward a number of objections which it might be difficult to answer, and for which he had suggested no remedy, Mr Chiene was prepared to give these Acts in their present form a further trial. The certificate might be so worded that it did not say that the woman was clean, but that, as far as could be judged, the woman was clean. ft was, as Dr Cadell stated, very difficult to speak dogmatically on this point. Dr Cunynghame mentioned how in India our troops are protected. Accompanying each regiment is a native bazaar, and among the other inhabitants of this are pro.stitutes. Whenever a man presents himself at hospital with acute venereal disease in any foim, the woman from whom he contracted his disorder is at once identified and put under treatment by the native assistant in the hospital. This plan answers well in small stations where there is only one bazaar; but in large stations, with several regiments quartered in them, it fails to some extent as the woman may manage to go from the bazaar of one to that of another. ' By this plan, however, the entrances into hospital on account of venereal disease are decidedly kept under. In former days it was throughout the army usual to have the men inspected regularly by the junior medical officer, to see that no one was suffering frojn the dise?ise apd hiding it. lie thought,](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21474084_0012.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
