Syphilis in the army and its influence on military service : its causes, treatment, and the means which it is advisable to adopt for its prevention / by H.C. French.

  • French, Herbert Cumming, 1860-1913.
Date:
1907
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Syphilis in the army and its influence on military service : its causes, treatment, and the means which it is advisable to adopt for its prevention / by H.C. French. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    The table in Appendix V. and Appendix III., Chart 2, shows the great diminution in venereal diseases that has resulted from controlling diseased tvomen, although short service existed. The admission ratio fell from 536 per 1,000 in 1895 to 200'3 per 1,000 in 1904. Increases are explained by re-admissions, greater care in detection, and influx of diseased persons. A decrease has resulted from an official circular letter—Instructions for procedure in cases of syphilis, 1904, the continuous treatment of syphilitic cases, out-patient attendance, the efforts of officers by means of warnings, lectures, &c., in improving the moral tone and sobriety of the men, encouragement of games and athletics, diminution in the number of prostitutes, and by keeping them away from the neighbourhood of barracks, and the placing of bazaars, brothels and liquor shops out of bounds. Appendix VII. shows some admission ratios amongst Colonial garrisons for the decennial period 1893 to 1902, and for the year 1903. Hong Kong, 441-8 per 1,000, heads the hst, an increase following the repeal of a Contagious Diseases Act in 1889. The Women and Girls' Protection Ordinance was mtroduced in 1897, and it is said to be working satisfactorily. Good results have also been obtained in South Africa, Straits Settlement, Gibraltar, Malta, &c., by equivalent ordinances. In the whole Army, in 1903, there was an average number of 3,554 men constantly in hospital on account of venereal disease, out of a total strength of 242,182 men ; and of this number India contributed 1,568 out of a strength of 69,613. The Increase in India.— The young soldier is usually a trained man on arrival in India, has more time and money; women are more accessible, and curiosity prompts him to frequent the native quarters. He is removed from home influences, is more exposed to temptation, as prostitution is more common near barracks, and the exaixiple of comrades may often lead to sexual indulgence. In all armies foreign service is marked by a greater prevalence of venereal diseases than obtains among the home troops. Lastly, the soldier is more restricted in regard to marriage than the civilian. Invaliding. The invaliding and deaths from syphiHs in the period 1894 to 1903 are shown in Appendix VIII. Appendix IX. shows that until 1888 the invalids at Netley, England, from venereal disease never reached 100, but then increased, until in 1897 they reached