The Contagious Diseases Acts : the Contagious Diseases Acts, 1864, '66, '68 (Ireland), '69, from a sanitary and economic point of view : being a paper read before the Medical Society of University College, London, on Thursday, November 30th, 1871 / by C.W. Shirley Deakin.

  • Deakin, Charles Washington Shirley.
Date:
1872
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Contagious Diseases Acts : the Contagious Diseases Acts, 1864, '66, '68 (Ireland), '69, from a sanitary and economic point of view : being a paper read before the Medical Society of University College, London, on Thursday, November 30th, 1871 / by C.W. Shirley Deakin. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    ation. In short, there is no evidence whatever on which to found such an assertion. But is gonorrhoea so unimportant?—Mr. J. R. Lane, of the; Lock Hospital told the Royal Commission as follows:— (14,677.) (Mr Holmes.) Do you agree with the medical officer of the-: Privy Council in this statement, which is contained in his last report, that gonorrhoea is never even temporarily of much importance in women nor ever, unless very exceptionally, of much importance in men ?—No, I do not. I think gonorrhoea in women is a much less serious affection than it is in men, but in men I think it is decidedly a serious affection, and has serious complications. An acute attack of gonorrhoea, even if simple, is no slight l liing ; swelled testicle may result from gonorrhoea, and that will disable a man for ten days or a fortnight. Then acute inflammation of the bladder i nay result from gonorrhoea, or abscesses in groin or in the perineum. Gonor- rhceal rheumatism is also a very serioixs condition, and so is gonorrhoea! ophthalmia; so I do not agree that gonorrhoea is at all the slight affection which the medical officer of the Privy Council states it to be. Mr. Berkeley Hill states, that out of 1,289 male patients at the Lock under his care for gonorrhoea, in 595 the disease was the simple incon- venient disorder to which it is urged this contagion can alone give rise ; in 395 it produced severe pains and more or less disablement for several weeks; 239 were cases of long duration, all of which had caused much suffering and loss ; in 60 the malady had given rise to stricture, an affection that not seldom in the end destroys the patient. [1869.] See Table V. 2nd. That it is impossible to examine women during their monthly illness, and as it would be simply barbarous (as is actually now legalized) to imprison them till that period be past, the examination cannot, in many instances be carried out. The clause of the Acts here referred to, is clause 3 of the Act of 1869; which is, that, if any common prostitute is in such a condition that the surgeon cannot properly examine her, if such surgeon has reasonable ground for believing that she is affected with a contagious disease, she may be detained in a certified hospital until the visiting surgeon can examine her, bo that she be not detained for a period exceeding five days .... If the reason be that she is drunk, she may be detained upon an order of the visiting surgeon for a period not exceeding twenty-four hours. I regret to say, that the Royal Commission has recommended the repeal of this clause, which was not inserted till after five years' experience of the Acts, and it was then only applied in cases luhere there was suspicion of disease. If a woman who was menstruating went home and did not con- tinue to prostitute herself she might be allowed to defer the examination, but when, as we all know, that (and in spite of her monthly courses) she continues her nefarious trade, and since, as is well known, and as Mr. Berkeley Hill said before the Royal Commission ;—