ENTERED according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by A. HART, LATE CAREY & HART, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 169485 STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY To what cause can we attribute the confusion which has so long existed, and which unfortunately still exists, in regard to Syphilis? With respect to our own country, where but few great minds devote their attention to the subject, the question is easily answered. We have given full credence to the teachings of English authors, and hence the same uncertainty which prevails in London relative to the disease may be observed in the United States. Some one has said that, "the higher the degree of civilization, the greater the prevalence of syphilis;" and since our motto is Onward! we may look for a further extension of the malady. Be this as it may, it is undeniable that this scourge of mankind no longer confines its ravages to towns and cities, but is beginning to penetrate our villages and hamlets. Our large commercial cities furnish the seed, which, like the down of the thistle, is scattered everywhere, from the shores of the St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico. What can be done to arrest its progress? It is at least especially necessary that we should understand the character of the enemy we are required to combat. Hunter, "the Father of English Surgery," systematically confounded blennorrhagia and syphilis; and this confusion still |